


The Rune thief of Hogwarts

by Night lotus (ShadowPheonix)



Series: Runestorm [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Mildly insane OC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-07 05:47:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 71,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8785489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowPheonix/pseuds/Night%20lotus
Summary: Hello, I'm Steelthorn. I already knew I wasn't normal, but then again, nobody is where I come from. Then I got a letter —BY OWL! Who sends letters by owl?— And my almost normalized life was made even worse. Or better, I'm still not sure.





	1. A concerning letter

**Author's Note:**

> Italicized text is usually thoughts, although there are some places I use it for emphasis.
> 
> I'm not exactly the best at Editing, so if you see any mistakes feel free to let me know.
> 
> also, I'm not the best with what tags/warnings to use, so let me know if there's something I missed.

 

# The Rune Thief of Hogwarts 

 

I looked down at the small gathering of people below me. All rich folk, gathered together for one of their all important Charity gatherings. Or that was what they were called, really they were just places where rich people could go to _pretend_ that they were helping kids like me and show off how rich they were to other rich people. A malicious smile crossed my face as I started my way back down the inside of the fence that lined the park where the gathering was held.

 

Outside I knew there were a few others like me, enterprising sorts who’d either stumbled upon the gathering or had read the flows among the richer types, and were preparing for their moments as well. However, they lacked a few things I had: Ambition, Creativity, and, most importantly, unique skills. While they sat outside waiting, as was the custom of us street rats, I slipped into the gathering itself. Sure, I’d be up a creek if anybody caught me, but I wasn’t planning on being caught. There was a reason I’d been sitting atop that fence for a few hours, and it wasn’t that it was comfortable.

 

I ducked from bush to bush just as I had planned, stopping as a pair of snooty looking businessmen walked past the bush I was sheltering behind, their shoes on the gravel giving away their position readily.

 

“…You know, I’m fairly sure that His family is about to fall through, they’re nearly out of money if I had to guess because…” I logged away the information for later investigation and slipped under the table I had determined earlier to use, pulling a knife from my pocket as I  slipped past the tablecloth. I noted the weight of the fabric and smiled, snorting internally. _Yes, those rich folk must be really roughing it indeed, deigning to come here and remain despite the fact that these are only synthetic and not pure silk tablecloths._

 

I used my knife to swiftly carve a series of diagrams into the underside of the table, smiling at the speed with which I had carved them. _I suppose that practicing those wasn’t nearly as big a waste of time as I’d thought it might be. I owed them that much, glad it really was helpful after all._ With the runes in place, I touched one finger to them, one by one. First I touched the runes that caused everyone but myself who came near them to pay far less attention to things than they should and to lower their suspicions slightly. Then I touched the runes that made the table and tablecloth, and thus myself, slip under notice more easily.

 

With my preparations finished, I listened closely for where the nearest attendees were. With my runes in place, nobody would think twice about the movement of the tablecloth so long as they did not see me slipping out from under it. Once I had determined where they were I slipped out and carefully crept around the corner of the table and ‘relieved’ the young woman I now spotted of her pocketbook, ducking back under the table as soon as I was done. I then cut a smaller version of the Runes on the table into the pocketbook and slipped it into my pocket, hoping that I wouldn’t need to employ the rune. Listening a bit more, I repeated the process, this time finding a gem-studded ring of some kind which had fallen to the ground and pocketing it as well.

 

Two more successfully executed thefts later I slipped back out the way I’d come and buried my findings under a small bush, making sure to memorize the spot, before slipping back to where I’d been and starting anew. Every three to six thefts I returned to the bushes and hid what I’d found and returned to my table. After about four trips to the bushes to hide my findings I triggered the final rune series which smoothed away the runes I’d carved, leaving behind no trace that I’d been there, and slipped back off into the night, digging up what I’d found before leaving the park for good.

 

Once I’d bypassed the fence I heard the first sign of trouble: The bell that signalled the end of the gathering. In a few minutes they’d be walking from their fenced off park to the real world, where a few pickpockets would see what they could get from them as they left. That would be when the trouble started. Somebody would know I’d been at the attendees when they found an empty purse, and that would put a price on my head if I didn’t have a way out. Cursing myself for staying longer than was wise I took off at a run, not caring for the sound my feet made on the stones as I fled the scene. Footsteps weren’t an uncommon sound here, even running ones, so nobody I had to worry about would take much notice.

 

I came to a stop, panting, as I swung around a corner into a narrow alleyway and stopped to catch my breath. Once I’d made certain nobody was nearby I climbed up the thick drainage pipe that ran up the side of the building. On top of the roof I looked over my haul, separating it into money or things that could be sold, and empty pocketbooks. The pocketbooks were washed in a puddle of rainwater with some sand and small stones once I’d removed the runes from them and rolled into a bundle with a small rag I had collected a long time back for this purpose. It was thoroughly soaked with oil and coated in dirt and all around filthy, which made it impossible to track my fingerprints through after the light washing I’d given them. After the first time I’d been caught because of my fingerprints I’d been far more careful.

 

I tossed the last pocketbook into the alleyway and  piled the valuables into my pockets. My tasks complete I climbed down the other side of the building and ran off, leaving the pocketbooks I’d taken here and there as I moved, scattering them across an area nearly a full kilometer square before I left the area for my own turf. Once I reached my own part of town I went straight to an abandoned warehouse and flopped down behind some piles of rubbish, falling asleep almost instantly.

 

I woke and stood quickly when a slight noise outside alerted me to somebody else’ presence and started digging for a specific type of hiding place, pulling the bound cash I’d taken from my pocket and waited for the person I knew was coming. I’d barely made it into a suitable hiding place when the door flew open with a resounding crash, revealing three boys, all larger than myself. The largest roared loudly as he looked about the room.

 

“Well? I know you were the one behind the disaster last night! So get over here and explain why I shouldn’t gut you now Steelthorn.” I smiled quietly. From Cutter that was very nearly a hearty good-morning. The men on either side of him must have known something about me, because they didn’t laugh at the name. I stepped from behind a pile of rubbish I’d used as part of my hiding place and fixed the trio with a calm stare.

 

“Good evening Cutter. Does the usual still work for you or was the debacle too big for that?” The Big boy nodded curtly and I tossed him the bundle of cloth-bound cash I’d taken out.

 

“You made a pretty good haul last night I see. Not trying to sneak anything past me are you?” I shook my head. Cutter nodded, smiling broadly. That was a perk of how long our agreement had lasted.

 

“Then we’ve no complaint with you Steelthorn. I’ll tell my men you’re here. I expect you to follow our agreement, as always.” I nodded once and walked to the back of the Warehouse where my few belongings were hidden. Cutter and I had an agreement that worked fairly well for both of us. He and his gang were more enforcers than anything else, hiring out to other gangs when there were fights, and guarding their own territory fervently. Nobody ever messed with them on their own turf. The problem came in when there weren’t many fights going on. None of the older of His gang could pick pockets or anything else nearly as well as most of the other gangs, and the younger ones were too valuable to risk on bigger targets.

 

That was where I came in. Unlike them, I was very good at theft, no matter the type. So in exchange for a place to stay without needing to worry about getting a knife in my back, I gave him most of what I stole. Of course, he didn’t know just how much more valuable jewelry was than cash as he didn’t know where to sell as well as I did, meaning that he often let me go neatly so long as his package was considerably larger than mine. We both knew the other was ripping us off but we also didn’t want to break the truce as it was to valuable to us both.

 

I was crouched in front of the little box that held most of my belongings when I heard footfalls behind me and turned my head to see who it was.

 

“So this is the amazing Steelthorn? Ha! You don’t look much like a thorn, maybe a rose though.” I gave the offending girl a bland look, mildly interested in how it was that somebody who didn’t understand my name would be this deep into Cutter’s territory, as it was one of the things that every Cutter was told on entry.

 

“And who might you be young miss?” She scowled, barely contained rage visible on her face. A light haired girl walked up behind her, giving me an apologetic look as she grabbed the first  by both arms and started pulling her back.

 

“Hello Steelthorn, I’m sorry about Flicker here, we were on patrol and I haven’t had time to explain things to her yet.” I smiled slightly at her and turned to face them fully, rising to my feet as I did.

 

“It’s not really a problem Sting, but as you’re here I might as well explain the name, though there’s no reason to demonstrate it.” She relaxed at the second part of my sentence, having tensed considerably before. Flicker looked at me curiously.

 

“What do you mean ‘explain the name’? And why was Sting so worried about it?” I laughed, the harsh sound causing her to take a step back.

 

“A flower is a thing of delicate beauty, bright colors and so on, captivating in it’s perfect balance between form and color. However, what happens if you try to pick a flower and neglect to see it’s thorns?” I let a blade fall into my hand, making sure that Flicker saw it before I hid it again.

 

I suppose you’d get pricked. But what’s that got to do with your name?” She said, slightly puzzled. I set down the box gently and turned to fully face her.

 

“Tell me, how easily do you think I could beat you in a fight?” She looked me up and down for a second then tipped one hand from side to side.

 

“I dunno, it wouldn’t be an easy fight for either of us I think.” I shot forward, pressing a blade lightly against her neck as I came to a stop behind her.

 

“You’re guess would be very wrong. So what do you suppose happened that got me my name?” I replaced the knife and returned to where I had been sitting before.

  
“I guess you got somebody who thought you’d be an easy mark then.” I nodded slightly, turning back to the box I’d been about to open. Behind me I heard the two girls talking quietly as they walked away.

 

“Who did he get?”

 

“Cutter’s older brother, among others. Nobody had ever been able to beat him in a fight before. Nobody ever will again.” As I fiddled with the lock I had fashioned into the solid steel box I recalled exactly what had been said when I first got my nickname.

 

* * *

Flashback

* * *

 

“See, look, he’s a perfect target. Young, scrawny, and looks to be a good thief. We just have to get him to help us and everything will be perfect.” I sent a careful glance in the direction of the voices, making sure not to be seen doing so. The speakers were a pair of boys who looked about the same age. I assumed they were members of the Cutter gang whose territory bordered with the Snatchers along the road I now walked.

 

“I d’nno Slasher, there something about him that I don’ trust, like everything you just said feels fake. Like he waiting for us to try and then… BAM! We dead.” This was greeted by a snort from the first boy who walked past and carefully began maneuvering so that if I wanted to avoid him I’d have to go into Cutter territory. I went along with it, not wanting to make a scene where I could be identified. That was the first rule of the streets. Never be caught unless you can get out again faster.

 

“Little boy, are you lost? I can help with that.” I looked furtively between the two boys who had now gotten me into an alleyway. I smiled brightly at them.

 

“No sir, I’m not lost. I know right where you walked me into.” The one named ‘Slasher roared at me and lunged forward, a long knife appearing in his hand. I dodged past his strike, letting a blade of my own slash down his arm, torso, and leg as I moved past him, coming to a stop as I pirouetted and sent two knives flying into his back and let my other two knives slip into my hands, looking at the second boy who hadn’t moved yet. He smiled broadly at me and held up his hands placatingly.

 

“What’s your name boy?” I shrugged.

 

“Don’t have one.” The boy on the ground laughed quietly, spitting blood. Apparently unaware of the words that had just been exchanged.

 

“So… It seems that… In my wonder upon seeing a flower… I neglected to notice it’s thorns of… of steel.” He wheezed out before sighing and closing his eyes. His form grew completely still. The second boy looked down at him sadly before turning back to me.

 

“Thorns of steel… hmmm. Well then steelthorn, I’ve a Propos… Prepis… a deal for you. You can stay here, we’ll guard you, make sure that there’s a roof over your head when it rains, and if you need food, you can ask and we’ll see what we can do. In exchange, you give us a portion of what you get.” I looked at him in surprise. The offer was about as generous as it got out here on the streets.

 

“What’s the catch?” He smiled and nodded sagely.

 

“I thought you’d ask that. The thing is that right now, you’d be our only good thief, so we’d need a lot. Business is slow, and our Younglings are starting to get hungry. I think you can fix that.” I thought it over for a moment and nodded.

 

“Alright. I’ll do it. How many are you feeding?” He offered one hand and I took it, sealing the deal.

 

“Right now we’re feeding ten younglings and twenty members, though for the most part, the members can handle themselves. The problem is that there’s another group of younglings moving through that either we take, or the Snatchers will, and we’re already close to war as it is. Them getting this next group will push them to attack.” I looked him in the eye as I let go of his hand, face grim.

 

“How many new ones?”

 

“Twenty.” I handed him the thirty pounds I’d gotten that day and turned, walking out onto the street. He looked stunned, likely never having received so much at one time.

 

“I’ll be back later.”

 

* * *

End Flashback

* * *

 

The lock clicked, bringing me out of my reverie as I opened it. Inside were two more small bundles, next to which I dropped my share of the loot from last night. Taking up most of the space in the box however, was one larger bundle from which I drew a piece of bread and some dried meat I had nicked from a shop. I then pulled the steel flask I kept hidden from its place and drank deeply, dumping the last of the stale water and turning to a large barrel which was one reason why I was willing to dump the remainder of the flask. It had taken a lot of work and a considerable amount of study at several libraries as well as several weeks worth of pickpocketing, alongside some fast talking to get Cutter to agree to let me keep all my earnings for it, but I had managed to buy or steal enough materials to place a similar barrel in each warehouse in cutter territory.

 

The top was covered with charcoal, gravel, and sand, all suspended by a framework of cloth and wood, which filtered out the water enough that we had drinking water so long as it rained at least once a month. While it wasn’t as useful during the winter months, the abundant snowfall was more than effective enough for us, and the ice that formed in the barrels was still drinkable once we melted it if there wasn’t any snow to be collected. I dipped the flask into the barrel and drank again, refilling it and returning the flask to its place.

 

_It took another year and a half, but I finished your project, Slivertongue._

 

Deciding that I should go visit the Cutters to make sure I knew them all and vice versa, I turned and walked out the door, making my way silently through the area, checking each warehouse as I passed before I reached it and walked in quietly.

 

“Ah, hello Steelthorn, I see you’ve decided to come visit us again.” Nurses’ voice was pleasant as always, but I thought I detected an undertone of sorrow. I looked over the younglings quickly before realizing exactly what it was that she was sad about.

 

“Who was it?”

 

“We lost Nellie.” My shoulders fell slightly. Nellie was one of the newest younglings, only a few weeks since they’d gotten her, but in that time all of us had felt the effect she had on us.

 

“I thought I noticed something off about Cutter.” Nurse spun so quickly the stool she was seated on nearly fell.

 

“ _Cutter_? Cutter was acting differently? How did you even notice that? He’s impossible to read, always!” I shook my head.

 

“It wasn’t him. It was that the pair he took with him to see me earlier was Charles and Craig. He only ever brings those two with him if something bad has happened. Even I can’t read his face.” Nurse smiled warmly at me.

 

“I suppose none of us can, really. But I’ll keep that in mind for next time I see him.” The door opened and I turned to greet the new arrivals. Nearly the entire cutter Gang walked in, closing the door securely behind them. I counted eight missing, which meant that whatever it was that cutter was about to say was big. Eight guards, no matter where they were, being the only ones not present was practically Cutter roaring for everyone to shut up and listen.

 

“I don’t want to have to repeat any of this, so you’d Bloody well better listen!” The room went silent.

 

“First, Steel, are you here?”

 

“Yes Cutter.” I was slightly worried about what he needed to say now. Since I wasn’t technically a member of the gang he usually didn’t need me present for his meetings, and usually asked me to leave before he started them. His requesting my presence now was… worrying, to say the least.

 

“Good. We’re going to change how we do winter from now on. Why am I telling you in the middle of Summer? Because we’re going to start now to stock up on everything we need so when it starts snowing and all those other Shits on our border are shivering and growing icicles on their ears we can waltz in and take over. We need more territory now that we’ve got so many more people, so we’re going to have to get ready now.” I smiled thinly. Things like this were the reason Cutter was leader of the gang. Unlike his brother Slasher, he knew how to look at things closely and come up with ideas to get the edge on the other gangs from months away, and the survival skill to stay alive long enough for those plans to see fruition.

 

“Now I’ve told you all this, be on the lookout for anything that might be useful during winter, and I’ll put out a list of things to keep a special eye out for over the next few days. Dismissed!” I walked over to where Nurse was still tending to the younglings, carefully making my way through the dispersing gang members until the room was nearly empty, leaving only Myself, Cutter, Nurse, and Cutter’s guards. A slight noise on the roof snapped my attention away from the younglings I was teaching a little about pickpocketing.

 

An owl flew in from the hole in the roof over the water collection barrel and made its way over to me, dropping something from it’s beak before winging away. I frowned, trying to make the shape out through the darkness. It was falling to slowly to be the remains of one of its meals, but I wasn’t sure what exactly it was either, flitting about as it fell, it looked almost like…

 

“A letter? But you would be sending me a letter? And who sends letters by owl at all?” Cutter looked more interested than I was, though he was warranted in it. He was after all, in charge of dealing with threats, no matter who they had been before they turned against the Cutters. I snatched the letter from the air and turned it over, pulling off the ribbon that bound it as I looked for a return address. There wasn’t one. Then I saw the address on the letter.

 

“What’s wrong Steelthorn? You’re white as snow.” I cut the letter open and passed the envelope to Cutter as I started to unfold the letter.

 

“I don’t get it. So it’s addressed directly to you, the fact that it was delivered by owl trumps that.” I shook my head and pointed to a line that should have had a street address on it.

 

“It’s not ‘just’ addressed to me Cutter. It’s addressed to me, in the youngling warehouse of the Cutter gang in Northern London. Tell me how that isn’t worrisome.” Cutter and Nurse both blanched as well.

 

“Well, who’s it from?” I opened the letter and checked the bottom first, hoping there would be a name there.

 

“It’s from… Somebody named… Minerva Mcgonagall? Apparently is in the position of deputy headmistress in a school called Hogwarts. Whatever either of those are.” Cutter snorted at me.

 

“You know Steelthorn, you make it really fecking hard to accept you as a street kid when you don’t ever curse or swear.” I looked straight at him, letting my threat be conveyed entirely via that look.

 

“OKAY! Okay. I won’t talk about it again. I know, don’t talk about your family and why you honor them.” I nodded and stopped giving him the deadly stare which he insisted couldn’t be normal.

 

“So what are you going to do about it?” I looked at him and snorted quietly.

 

“What do you think? I’m going. Maybe I’ll find out how they knew where I would be when I got it. I don’t have to leave yet, but it starts September first.” Cutter and Nurse both stared at me for a bit.

 

“What’s going on?” Cutter shook his head back and forth for a while before looking at me.

 

“It’s just that, that’s in a month and a half. There’s no way that you can get enough to counteract you’re going missing for an entire school year in that time. We need you to much for you to be able to go.” I shook my head at him, a small smile on my face.

 

“I already know how I’ll do it, or at least I have a plan that hopefully will get me most of the way there. I’ll be back tonight.” I walked straight to my warehouse and opened the box, not wasting any time and opened it within seconds. I pulled a bundle from the box and pulled a single ring from it before I locked the box up again. As I passed the doors I made them close automatically with a flick of my hand. Much like my runes, I wasn’t sure how I did it, only that I could. As I walked, I re-opened the letter I had received and looked it over more closely, actually taking the time to read it. Below a garish crest that was divided into four pieces was written in a flowing script:

 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore.

(Order of Merlin First Class, Grand Sorc., Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Thorne,

 

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Terms begin on September 1.

Somebody will be sent to help you find the appropriate vendors for your equipment in one week from your reading of the letter. They will be waiting at the entrance to the park approximately two kilometers to the northwest.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress.

 

I refolded the letter, shaking my head at it, absently letting it strike the man next to me as I lifted his pocketbook, apologizing profusely for hitting him with the letter. That done, I unfolded the second letter, which I expected would be the supply list.

 

As a First year Student you will require the following:

 

 

  * Uniform


  * Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)


  * One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wear


  * One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)


  * One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)


  * Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags at all times.


  * Books


  * The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk


  * A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot


  * Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling


  * A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch


  * One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore


  * Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger


  * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander


  * The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble


  * Other Equipment


  * 1 Wand


  * 1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)


  * 1 set of glass or crystal phials


  * 1 telescope


  * 1 set of brass scales


  * Students may also bring an Owl, a Cat or a Toad


  * PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.



 

I rolled my eyes at the last one. _I suppose the servants need special permits to use brooms as well. Oh wait, magic._ I rolled my eyes again. I bent over and picked up the letter I had ‘accidently’ dropped, removing another pocketbook as I did. I was fairly sure that somebody was behind me, though I wasn’t sure where they were. I also wasn’t looking forward to meeting somebody at the park I had visited the night before.

 

I looked around and nodded to myself, setting off at a run, dashing from alley to street and back for several blocks before I reached my destination. I paused outside and leaned against the wall next to the door and carved the same runes I had put in the table into the wall, catching my breath as I did, before I looked around, trying to see who it was that was following me. After a moment I decided that I’d gotten away and dismissed the runes.

 

I stepped through the door, making the bell hooked to the door ring loudly. From somewhere in the back of the shop I heard a quiet thud followed by scurrying.

 

“Coming, Coming!” I waited at the counter, perfectly content to to let Old Jim finish whatever he was doing back there before he attended to me.

 

“Ah! Steelthorn. To what do I owe the pleasure of your appearance?” I set the ring I had taken with me on the counter but didn’t take my hand off it.

 

“I’ve got thirty people I need to find enough money to help feed for eight months.” Once he nodded in acceptance I moved my hand away from the ring. He snatched it instantly and looked at it through the microscope, nodding happily afterwards and sliding it into his pocket.

 

“Ten.” I smiled and pulled a bag containing nine more rings from my pocket and handed it across. He snatched it and opened it, putting each one under his microscope before sliding it into his pocket as well.

 

“You do realize I’m ripping you off here right?” I nodded, a faint smile on my lips.

 

“You do realize if I wasn’t okay with it I’d take the rings back after hours and bring your entire operation crashing down?” He nodded and we shared a look of shared understanding. He was a businessman, which meant he had to buy as low as he could and sell as high as he could. I was a thief, which meant that if I needed to I’d sell him the same ring three times. It was the way of things.

 

“Steelthorn, you’re getting sloppy, that man there has been watching you ever since you came in.” I snickered.

 

“I know. He’s no threat to either of our… enterprises however or I’d have removed him before we started. Now to see how good he really is.” I slipped out the back door at Jim’s signal and shot off, ducking into an alleyway where I carved several different runes sequences into the ground and walls around me. Before long one of them glowed faintly and vanished. _Gotcha!_ I smiled evilly before triggering all the runes and running off again. Behind me, flames filled the alleyway. Nobody but me even noticed it.

 

I left the money I had gotten from Jim with Nurse and recommenced teaching the younglings in the art of Pickpocketing. Nurse thought it funny that I would teach them, but she knew why I was doing it. The door opened quietly and A small figure stepped through. I started for an instant as memories entered my mind unbidden before I saw her face. _No, it’s not Winter. Stop hoping._ I turned back to the younglings, keeping my ears out for whatever the newcomer was up to.

 

“Hello Nurse, Steelthorn. Cutter sent me to say that business took a turn for the better, Snatchers and Glassers this time. So naturally there’s extra guard detail here.” I nodded absently.

 

“Hello Flurry. Who’s the other guard?” A familiar voice cut in with an audible smile.

 

“Oh, I think you can guess Steel.” I smiled widely.

 

“Well, if Litt’l John hasn’t come back!” The bigger boy walked out as I turned to face him and lifted me easily as he wrapped his arms around me tightly. After a few moments of squirming I slipped out of his grasp.

 

“You’re getting better, Litt’l John, took me a full five seconds.” He smiled even wider.

 

“I’ve been working on it. Gotten really good at catching people, so Cutter thinks I’ll be good on guard detail.” I nodded in agreement with Cutter’s choice. Litt’l John was much larger than  most others his age, and was certainly one of the strongest on the streets. However, he wasn’t much good in a normal fight, since his hands were somewhat on the clumsy side. He reminded me of the Giant from _The Princess Bride_ , a book I had read once several years ago in a library.

 

“So how goes the war effort Litt’l John?” He shrugged halfheartedly.

 

“About as one could expect. We’ve hired out and both sides are weighing the pros and cons now. We expect a messenger sometime in the next three days.” I nodded, congratulating one of the Younglings on having successfully slipped her hand into my pocket before I caught her before pointing out things she had done wrong, the first of which was that she had tried to pickpocket her teacher.


	2. My introduction to the magical world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first day I found what the wizarding world calls normal magic. It was almost as foreign to me as my own magic is to those who know of it.  
> Also, Olivander is weird.
> 
>    
> From now on I'll try and post a chapter a week unless something comes up.  
> As always, if there's something I messed up, let me know.  
> Italics are usually thoughts, but there are other sections.

# My introduction to the magical world

* * *

I slipped out the door of my warehouse a silently as a shadow, crossing the streets and alleyways with extreme caution. While most gangs knew I wasn’t actually aligned with any one gang, and therefore wasn’t involved in the Gang wars, nobody ever knew if that would change. And on the streets, illogical caution often outruled logical deduction. From street to street I went before I stopped before the gate of the park I had been told to wait at.

I watched the gate swinging slowly back and forth in the breeze, occasionally prompting it to be more active in its activity with a push from my foot while I waited. When the shadows said it was approaching seven o’clock I heard somebody moving my way and turned toward the sound, pausing in confusion as there was nothing to see. After a few minutes of watching however, the sound resumed and I saw it. Difficult though it was, something seemed to be stepping on the grass ever so slightly before jumping up and landing on the grass farther on, again only just touching it before leaping off. Or so it seemed. The other possibility was that whoever was coming was employing some kind of magic to make the grass seem like it wasn’t being stepped on, but the timing was slightly off.

Eventually I stopped watching, having spotted a ring that was a bit too conspicuous. I carefully stepped past it and nicked the contents of the lady standing next to it before quietly asking her if the ring was hers. She nodded, despite the fact that, if her purse contents were any indication, she couldn’t afford it, and bent to pick it up. For some reason, she couldn’t get back up. I frowned and sat down, making as if I was trying to decide how best to help. Behind me, the invisible grass jumper muttered something under it’s breath and the woman stood back up, looking around as though slightly disoriented and walked off like it never happened.

“I’m very glad you didn’t do that when the park was more busy.”A man said as he appeared roughly where I had thought he would. I snorted.

“I’d have thought you’d be smart enough not to leave trinkets around like that.”

“Very well, though it’s the least you deserve after that trick with the fire a few days back. My name is Professor Severus snape, and I will be escorting you to Diagon alley, where you will purchase your school things.” I shrugged quietly.

“I only need to know where it is. I’ll find everything else on my own.”

“There are reasons that, as much as I would like to not have to lead pyromaniacal soon-to-be students from one place to another, I cannot. So instead, if you would please take my hand, we’ve elsewhere to be.” I rolled my eyes and took his hand as bidden, feeling an unpleasant sensation and a loud crack before I hit the ground sideways. Naturally I was on my feet in an instant, blades only barely not revealing themselves. Snape was walking quietly toward a house where he knocked sharply at the door then waited. A few minutes later the door opened, revealing a man I estimated to be in his late thirties. Behind him stood a boy who was nearly an exact replica of him.

“Ah, Professor Snape. I’m glad to see you, because Frankly I’ve no idea where to get all the things he’ll need and I truly do want to see what he can learn.” The man said excitedly. I got the feeling that Snape was trying hard not to let his surprise show on his face.

“Yes, well I am here now, Mr. Finch-fletchley, so if we can be on our way?” Snape said, his voice overly calm. Mr. Finch-fletchley nodded happily and moved slightly so His son could slip past. As soon as the door closed, Snape grimaced slightly.

“Your Father’s reaction to your invitation bodes well for the Ravenclaw House.” Snape said as we walked away from the house. I smirked, leaning over to him.

“Is that how you say you’re surprised he took it so well?” I whispered, unable to resist the opportunity to poke fun at him. Snape flinched slightly before regaining his perfectly formed scowl

“Of course not! Now, no more disruptions, I’m quite certain neither of you wishes to have limbs removed because I was disrupted partway through?” He said sharply. Finch-fletchley and I both nodded rapidly. Snape smiled. “I thought not.” With another loud crack and a dizzying sensation we appeared in an empty alleyway in the back of a pub.

“Now, since I hope not to have to guide you again, The way in is to tap this brick here with your wand, naturally, not having one you can’t enter Diagon alley without help yet, but that’s something we’re going to fix.” So saying he jabbed a brick in the wall rather viciously with his wand. I had just about memorized which brick it was when I realized that the wall was peeling apart. Neither Finch-fletchley nor I looked nearly as amazed as I felt Snape had expected, though I was less impressed than Finch-fletchley, whose eyes were wider than I’d realize human eyes could be.

“Now, while we are here, you are to be polite to everyone and to be careful to stay close to me. I’d rather not waste any more time trying to find you than I already have to buying you your things.” Snape said dericively. I followed close behind, wondering just what I had gotten myself into.

“Um, excuse me, but my name’s Justin, what’s yours?” The boy next to me spoke hesitantly. I wondered what he was so worried about.

_Well unlike us he probably hasn't spent the last four years of his life with magic as a daily event._

_You're probably right._

“Call me Steel.” I said, making an attempt to be polite. We shook hands as we followed behind Snape, careful never to lose sight of him. Losing your guide was about the worst you could have happen to you in a new place in my opinion, which was why maps were far more useful than people for the job, if you asked me.

“First we will be stopping here at Gringotts, where you will be trading in your muggle currency for Wizarding currency, then we will start getting you your things. From what Minerva told me, You’ve no family to speak of Steele, so we will need to speak with the goblins a bit more before we can go.” Snape said. The air of apparent disgust that surrounded him as he said that almost made me laugh. It was to easy to see through, as though the man wanted it to be.

 the building in question was a large white marble affair with heavy bronze doors leading in. next to these doors stood a pair of Goblins in uniform who greeted Snape with a nod of the head. I only knew that’s what they were because Snape said so when Justin asked. Inside the doors were a second set of doors, this time made of silver, Engraved with a short poem which Justin read aloud, to my annoyance.

  _"_ **Enter, stranger, but take heed**

**Of what awaits the sin of greed**

**For those who take, but do not earn**

**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**

**So if you seek beneath our floors**

**A treasure that was never yours**

**Thief, you have been warned, beware**

**Of finding more than treasure there.** I wonder what that means?” He added as he finished the poem. I snorted in response to Justin’s question and gestured towards the pair of goblins who stood next to the doors.

 “Maybe ask them?”

 “Ah! Of course. What does this-”

 “We heard you the first time. And if you don’t know what it means, then you’re not the type it was written for.” The second goblin who had been studying me through the entire exchange spoke up.

 “What of you? You seem to be the right type, what think you of its meaning?”

 “Come along you two, no time to waste.” Snape called. I rolled my eyes theatrically and pretended to jabber along to Snape's words, causing the goblins to smirk at Snape's back.

 “Hello Mr. Snape sir, what can I do for you today?” A goblin teller said quietly. Snape scowled at the goblin, without any reaction from said goblin.

 “First, I’ll be making a withdrawal of fifteen galleons from the Hogwarts funds. Second, I have two students here who need to trade their currency.”

 “Of course. I’ll have Clawfinger take care of the boys while we go make the withdrawal, if you don’t mind.” The goblin said, voice still only just above a whisper. Snape shook his head and followed the goblin down a hallway. A second later another goblin appeared before me and Justin.

_Goblins sound the way I imagined people sounding in books I've read when they say they sound oily._

_I agree with that assessment_ _._

 “Sirs, right this way please.” Clawfinger said as he started down the hall. His voice too was just above a whisper, yet I could hear it easily. We followed, though Justin more or less dragged me along, as I would have much prefered to move slower and see everything.

 “So, if you would please tell me how much money you wish to trade I can tell you how many galleons that is, and confirm that is the amount you wish to convert before doing so.” Clawfinger said as we entered one of the rooms. Justin paused, uncertain, but I smiled and sat down at the table across from Clawfinger.

 “Two questions, the first being what do you do with this money, and the second being what is the monetary system divided into?” I asked, wanting to know what I was getting myself into before I started. Justin gulped nervously, but Clawfinger just laughed.

 “I wish all muggleborns were as wise as you were to ask that second one. Here at Gringotts we exchange your muggle currency for precious metals, keeping some on hand in case a wizard wishes to exchange their wizarding currency for muggle currency. As to your second, a golden galleon is equal to approximately five of your pounds, and with seventeen silver sickles to the galleon, a sickle is worth something about thirty of your pence. Knuts are about thirty to a sickle, meaning they come out to about one penny in your currency.” Clawfinger stated, a slight smile on his face. Justin, with only a little shaking, handed Clawfinger a few notes of varying amounts and then backed away quickly. After thumbing through it for a moment the goblin nodded carefully.

 “This comes out to thirty galleons.” He said simply, looking at him for confirmation. Justin started to stammer out a reply.

 “B-but that’s not, I mean I—”

 “He’s right Justin, that’s what it comes out to. After all, They’ve got to make a profit in here somewhere haven’t they?” I said, studying the goblin carefully as I did. Unwilling to continue the argument, Justin fell silent, though he was still visibly disturbed.

 “Here are your galleons, and as for you, young sir, is there anything you would like to exchange? I must warn you that the amount that the school grants its students is barely enough to cover the books and a wand. If you want to get everything on the list, you’ll need to exchange money at some point.” Clawfinger said, a friendly word of advice coupling with a note of greed. I smiled thinly and handed him three notes. He thumbed through it and smiled, nodding as he ran a few calculations.

 “This will be eleven galleons and five sickles, is that a proper amount?” Clawfinger said as he pulled another drawer open, Justin gasped faintly, but neither of us paid him any attention. I smiled back at the grinning goblin.

 “Oh, but it would be such fun if I said that doesn’t come out right, would it not?”

 “Indeed. It seems that Uric and Lurk were not wrong to ask you what you thought of our… message.” Clawfinger said as we stood up. I shook my head.

 “Perhaps another time, though it would be an interesting… challenge. And yes, that will be sufficient.” With a few galleons in our pockets Justin and I went back to the main room with Clawfinger guiding us. A few minutes later Snape returned and we walked back out the door. Snape handed me another fifteen galleons as we walked out the door, growling quietly.

 “Perhaps when next we meet you’ll be able to interpret our poem!” One of the guards called as we left. I held a single galleon over my shoulder and made it vanish in a bit of sleight of hand. A second later it was in my pocket, though if anyone had seen it's path without magic I'd eat the thing.

 “I haven’t already? I must create one for you as well during my time at school if you are so willing to offer me one of yours.”

I could still hear them laughing after the Bronze doors closed behind us. First we stopped at a bookstore to get our schoolbooks, and I made note of several others that seemed interesting that I would have to get when I came back. The books on runes piqued my interest, but Snape said that they weren’t used until third year and ushered us past.

 From there we went to the magical equivalent of a science shop and got the cauldrons and things we would need, before walking into a robes shop for Justin, while I declined having my robes done right away, suspecting that my size would change in the next few months. Life on the streets, even when you were good, was never stable. With Justin in his new robes, we walked across the way to where peeling gold letters read OLLIVANDER'S, Makers of fine wands since 382 BC. As soon as the bell rang I heard muffled thumps, similar to those I’d heard in Jim’s shop a few days earlier.

 “Coming, Coming. Ah! Professor Snape! Ten inches—”

 “These boys have come to get wands of their own Ollivander, sir.”

 “Of course. Let’s see, you first, and what’s your name?”

 “Justin, sir.”

 “Justin, I see… If you could stick your wand arm out?” After a moment's hesitation Justin stuck his right hand out, watching in fascination as Mr. Ollivander’s Measuring tape began to fly about, taking measurements seemingly of it’s own free will.

 “Try this one. Holly, nine and a quarter inches, Dragon heartstring.” Justin grabbed hold of it for only an instant before Ollivander snatched it from his hand and replaced it with another.

 “Yew, eleven and a half inches, Phoenix feather… No, no… Maybe… Maple, Seven inches, Unicorn tail hair… Yes, go on, give it a swish.” Justin did so, sending a flurry of yellow-green sparks from the end and marring several pages of books that were scattered about the room. _If Silver were here she’d have a fit._ I almost slashed my own wrist for that thought. _They’re gone and they’re not coming back. Stop thinking about it. Never. Ever. Again._

 “And now for you Mr…?”

 “I seem to have been named Steele at this point.”

 “Ah, a mysterious type? Hmm, well that’s that off the list then… and stick out your wand hand would you please?” I held out both hands, and he smiled quietly, chuckling faintly. “I don’t think you quite understand what I meant...”

 “I’m ambidextrous.”

 “Ah, but of course. Hmm… Try this one, Cedar Nine inches, dragon heartstring… No, no that’s not it… Juniper, six inches, phoenix feather. No, not that one either… tricky tricky. Try… Aspen, Ten inches, dragon heartstring… Hmm, no, that’s not right either… Hmm. perhaps… No, that’s not it either… Ninteen inches… Not right either…” After a solid twenty minutes of trying wands, during which I never held a single wand for more than a fraction of a second, Ollivander looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and an unnerving smile on his face.

 “There’s something you know that you don’t want to share, and I think it would help enormously with this.” I shrugged.

 “I know many things I don’t want to share. Which ones would be applicable to this, I don’t know.” He smiled even wider.

 “Then you shall just have to return later, shan’t you?” I nodded, a grim smile on my lips.

 “Well, if that’s the case then we’d best be off. We still need to get you trunks to hold these things in.” With those words Snape led us off to another store, where He stood impassively by the door as Justin and I decided what to get. In the end I paid six galleons for a shoulder bag that would hold everything I had with considerable space to spare. I wasn’t sure the price was entirely fair, given that Justin paid four for a trunk nearly a meter long and half as wide which was also enchanted, but I paid it no mind, snatching a galleon from the bin the witch had placed them in as I left.

 “We’re going back now.” After a few more jumps I stood back up and walked away, going straight back home, Snape’s parting words — where to find the entrance to Diagon alley, rattling about in my head.

* * *

 

Back home

 “Well Steelthorn, how’d the day go?” Cutter asked as I entered my warehouse. I tossed Cutter the pocketbooks I had swiped on the way to and from my meeting before lying down on a clear part of the floor.

 “Who’d have thought that walking around buying things could take so long, or be so tiring?” I asked of nobody in particular. Cutter laughed hard at that.

 “Well, you’ve gotten quite a bit in the past few days, but there’s not much else for you to do is there now?” He sighed. “Only three weeks now and you’ll be gone. Sure we’ve gotten everything we needed because you were able to get that cash so soon, but…” He squared his shoulder and turned back to me, his face unreadable.

 “In three weeks, You’ll be gone. I expect that you come back here whenever it is you get back so we can talk about how to go about things from here on out, or at worst, so you can rain vengeance on whoever it was that killed us all.” I nodded, clasping forearms with him before turning away to go back to my quarters.

 “Night Cutter.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day I went to diagon alone I managed to out-haggle a goblin, got introduced to blood purity and some of its associated idiocy, and proved to be an odd enough customer that Ollivander made me a custom wand. Or something like that, I still don't understand this world.
> 
> Oh, and I used a really really painful rune in a really stupid way. why? because I didn't bother thinking first. Or so I'm told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I didn't post a chapter yesterday, I had some things come up in life, and I was re-working some of the other chapters to incorporate some new elements.  
> As always, let me know if there's anything wrong grammatically, spelling-wise, or any other editing points that I missed.

July 31, The leaky cauldron.

* * *

 

“So you’re telling me that I have to find my own way past because the ministry is about as stupid as it gets.” I said, summing up what I’d just been told. The barkeep, Tom, nodded apologetically.

 “I’m sorry Lad, but that’s just how it is. I’m not entirely sure why, and don’t go spreading it about, but I think you’re right about that last part.” I nodded then an idea crossed my mind.

 “What if I ‘found’ somebodies wand that just so happened to be lying about and borrowed it for a few minutes?”

 “It’d work if you only meant to be in Diagon for a few minutes, else you’d not be able to get back in after you returned it. The alley’s enchanted to hide itself if the door is open so that no muggles who manage to get in here go into Diagon.” I nodded and smiled, already knowing what I was going to do.

 “Then this will work perfectly, it’s not something I do often, but maybe I should change it up a bit, use it a lot. May I borrow your wand for thirty seconds?” He raised his eyebrow and laughed.

 “I imagine you’ve got a plan in mind laddy, and I’m curious enough to be willing to let you borrow my wand to let you do it to. Of course, I can’t have let you have it now can I?” I smirked and nodded.

 “Of course not.”

 

|~~~~~|

 

I slipped Tom’s wand from his apron pocket without even a second thought and flitted out the door, closing it behind me and tapping the alley door and carved a long runic sequence into the alley entrance as it closed behind me. That completed I skipped back through the door and returned Toms wand, giving him a wink when he next looked my way before I walked back out the door and carved another series of runes into the entrance on the Leaky cauldron’s side of the alley. I tapped them once and felt a harsh suction for an instant and then I was in Diagon Alley. I smiled for a second before I collapsed in pain, quickly making my way to a hidden corner where people wouldn’t notice me as much while I recovered from the runes.

  _Now at least I remember why we don’t do that very often. It really, really sucks!_

  _How about we don’t do that a lot?_

  _Agreed. I want to find a new way to do this sort of thing, because I'd like to never do it again._

  _You and me both..._ I felt something in my throat for an instant and was suddenly very glad that I hadn’t had breakfast that morning as I retched several times over, gasping for breath. Once I was confident I’d made at least a partial recovery I made my way back to Gringotts.

 “Feels like your doors are challenging me.” I whispered to one of the goblins as I passed, going to a teller and asking for help getting money exchanged. A few minutes later, I was sitting across from Clawfinger again. He smiled patiently at me, waiting for me to reveal what I was up to. I place my hand face down on the table, covering something.

 “Now, I know this might be hard for you, but we’re going to play a game. I know how much this is worth, and when I move my hand, you probably will too. So the question then is, how much are you going to try and rip me off, and how well am I going to be able to convince you not to?” I moved my hand off the table revealing the carved jade and gold bracelet it had been covering. Clawfinger looked at me and laughed.

 “Seventy.” I snorted at him.

 “Of course, because it’s not actually worth eighty-two.” He raised one eyebrow at me.

 “There’s a percentage based exchange fee.” I laughed.

 “Seems difficult to say that when you charged different percentages of me and Justin when we were here earlier, and it’s already a hard asset that can sell just fine without any real work from you. Maybe put an enchantment on it or something and you’ve got something for some fine lady.” He smiled at me.

 “So what’s you asking price here?” I grinned at him.

 “Well, as it’s worth eighty-two, Your ‘percentage based fee’  should take about three, and the cost to enchant it, depending on how much you want to sink on it, would cost maybe six more, unless you want something really expensive, so I’m thinking we’re looking at near seventy six.”

 “Seventy-one, good jewelry enchantments are pricey.” We continued in this vein for about half an hour before we finally decided on a price.

 “Seventy-three and sixteen sickles, and that's final."

 “That’s good enough I suppose. Seventy-three and sixteen sickles it is.” I stated. Clawfinger pulled a drawer open.

 “I’m not sure who got ripped off more.” I confessed as he handed me the coins and I passed him the bracelet.

 “Oh? I’m pretty sure it was you my dear boy. I am a goblin after all, and no wizard has ever been better with money than we are.” I smiled and shook my head.

 “That was only worth seventy to begin with. I think you were being a bit nice though, because I didn't expect to get much more than a few sickles extra.” He cocked his head at me then bowed in respect.

 “I had no idea that you were bluffing the entire time. I must tell the king of you my friend, the boy who can lie so well that even a goblin can’t tell he’s lying about money. HAHA!” We shook hands as we rose, stepping out the doors.

 “So, where are you off to now, young man?”

 “I’m off to Madam Malkin’s and Ollivanders. Certain things… didn’t work as they ought to have with the wands, and I had no idea if I would grow or shrink over the last few months, so I’m getting them now I’m sure I won’t change size to much before I get to Hogwarts.” He turned and moved deeper into the Bank, waving over his shoulder as he left.

 “You know where to find the door my friend. Be sure to tell the guards, lest I forget. Wouldn’t want them thinking you weren’t good at this.” I grinned at him and walked towards the doors, where I told the Guard goblins of my successful venture, they laughed loudly.

 “So, not even into the vault and you’re beating us at our own game are you?”

 “Say, what is your name anyway? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard it.”

 “I’m known as Steelthorn. Maybe I should try being a goblin instead of a human. I know my name would fit anyway.” And so saying, I continued on my way. Behind me, one of the the goblin guards whispered quietly to the other.

 “He’s one crazy human alright. Not saying he’d be a good goblin, but he’s not as bad as most humans.”

 I reached the door to Flourish and blotts first and entered, buying a few books on runes and a few books on more advanced spells. While he raised an eyebrow at the purchases, the man at the register rung them up without complaint. I hadn’t bothered to steal any of his books, because one never knew when I might want to go back, and stealing a book wasn’t a good way to be invited back to a bookshop, particularly one like this.

 At Ollivanders I knocked once then let myself in, looking around for Mr. Ollivander. After a few seconds he stepped out from behind one of the dusty old shelves and greeted me.

 “Ah, Hello there young Mr. Steele, here to see what we can do about your wand issue are you? Well, first I must ask why you decided to become ambidextrous, because I suspect that to be the heart of the issue.”

 “Knives, fighting in general, life.”

 “Knives eh? Hmm… well let’s see… perhaps… no, can’t do that, nor that either… hmm. What a conundrum this is. I love it!” He said, flipping through a small binder. I smiled as a thought came to me.

 “Could you make one of my knives a wand sir?” Ollivander turned to me, eyes twinkling with some new idea.

 “Not quite, but I know what I can do. Come back in an hour or two and I’ll show you what I’ve come up with. I was thinking about your situation after you left and I came up with something already, I just need to make a few adjustments, of course or I’d show you now.” I nodded and left, sensing that Ollivander wanted to get straight to work. At Madam Malkin's I had my robes made, feeling fairly sure that I wasn’t going to change size too much over the next week. While I was there I met three others who looked to be in my year of Hogwarts along with a few others of note.

 The first fellow student I met had blonde hair that was almost white and was very pale skinned, the type that practically asked to be robbed, sitting priming on a stool as he was fitted. The moment I walked in he took a single look at me and spat. The witch fitting him scowled behind him, but didn’t say anything. I decided that his pockets could use a little lightening.

 “Well, if it isn’t some Mudblood who’s shown up from nowhere and trying to fit someplace he shouldn’t.” I rolled my eyes at him, which made his face turn a lovely shade of pink.

 “I expect there’s a meaning behind Mudblood, as Blood is not mud, unless it’s been spilt first.” He growled at me before puffing up slightly.

 “If you don’t know what a Mudblood is then you’re definitely one. I’m Draco Malfoy, a pureblood, and my father is Lucius Malfoy, so you’d better watch your step mudblood.” The boy said haughtily. I gave a theatrical gasp of fear, placing one hand over my heart, concealing the ex-contents of his pockets.

 “Oh no! Most certainly don’t go crying to your precious daddy for vengeance because the evil Mudblood looked at you! Oh I beg of you! Anything but that!” His face couldn’t have gotten much redder if he’d dipped it in red paint by now, so he sat still, sulking quietly until the next arrival entered, seating himself quietly on a stool as well.

 “I don’t suppose your parents were of the right type are you?” The boy looked a bit confused for a moment then spoke quietly.

 “They were a witch and wizard, if that’s what you mean.” Draco looked much more pleased with himself, completely missing that the new boy hadn’t know what he meant.

 “Well good. Frankly I think it shouldn’t be allowed, Mudbloods and all. I suppose we’d have to allow Half-bloods, but only because the entire magical population would die out within three generations if we didn’t, but…” He gave me an especially nasty look. “ _Mudbloods…_ well, there’s no reason for them.” A few more minutes of such chatter, which nobody but Draco seemed to hear, and he finally left, taking his annoying drone with him.

 “And about time, too. If he hadn’t managed to stop talking about blood purity soon I’d have stopped being curious what happens to pure blood when it hits the ground because I would have found out.” I hissed, glaring after him. The dressing witch looked at me for a moment before sitting me down at a stool.

 “I’d be more careful with sharing sentiments like that in future. Not many like the Malfoys, but they’re too powerful for many to keep them as enemies.” She made a pointed glance at the third occupant of the room before flicking her wand at my hair, causing it to stand upright to keep it out of the way. I laughed.

 “He’s pure-blooded yes, but not of the same type. He won’t care.” She raised one eyebrow at me as she pulled a piece of cloth from the shelf, her measuring tape finished its measuring and crumbled much like Ollivanders had.

 “When Draco asked him about blood-purity, he didn’t know what was being asked.” I turned my head as much as I could without disrupting the work being done.

 “What’s your name?” The boy started when he realized I’d been talking to him.

 “O-oh. I’m Harry.”

 “I’d give you my hand Harry, but they’re both busy.” I said with a slight smile. He grinned, looking a bit less worried. _Why are you doing this?_ I bit my lip, trying to answer the question myself.

  _I don’t know. I know it’s not normal, but there’s something that tells me he’s going to need more help than he’ll get if I don’t._ Of course, that could just be part of me going insane, after all, normal people don’t carry on entire conversations with other people who live inside their head. Do they?

  _I thought it was just you being you that made you think that._

  _No, I’m fairly sure it’s not this time._

  _Oh sure, the one who can feel it and who wants it to be true thinks it’s real. Well there’s a surprise! I THINK I’M GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK AND DIE FROM NOT SURPRISE!_ The bell at the door tinkled quietly, breaking me from the mental conversation.

  _Do we know her?_

  _Okay, I’ll give this one to you. She actually does look familiar, though I don’t know why._

  _I was hoping that was just me._

  _No such luck, of course._ The girl in question looked to be our age as well, with slightly poofy red-brown hair that curled slightly and a bookish air about her. Her parents stood right behind her, looking a little uncomfortable in this place, though that might have had to do with the serious looking witch next to them.

 “Mr. and Mrs. Granger, these two will also be in the same year as your daughter, If I had to guess from the looks they are giving everything.” I narrowed my eyes at the woman slightly.

 “And you are…?” I asked carefully.

 “Professor Mcgonagall. I will be teaching your transfiguration classes at Hogwarts.” With that she sat down and began reading something from off the table.

 “Hi, I’m Hermione.” _Yes, definitely familiar, but I don’t know why._

  _Make that we don't know why._

 “I’m Harry.”

 “Harry? As in Harry _Potter?_ ” Harry nodded slowly, wondering why his last name was important. I was curious as well, but I kept it from showing.

 “Wow! I’ve read about you, you know you’re in most of the recent history books? It’s really amazing what happened.” I groaned slightly, causing Hermione to look up at me, apparently having forgotten I was there for a moment.

 “Oh! Hello.”

 “Yes, good morning to you as well. What exactly happened that’s so amazing?” She stared for a moment then shrugged.

 “I guess you’re muggleborn like me then, but haven’t you even read any of our schoolbooks?. See, back when Harry, and I guess all of us then, since we’re all about the same age, were just little children, barely even babies really, his family was attack by the most evil Wizard of all time, but when everything was said and done, Harry was still alive, and Vol-”

 “Do not speak his name!” Hermione nodded at the sudden fearsome tone in the witch who had been so calm until now.

 “Okay, well, this wizard was gone, dead everyone said.” The witch tightened the last stitch and cut the strings with a sharp click from her scissors, which were floating about cutting things by themselves.

 “And I hope he stays that way. Your turn Harry dear.” Harry climbed up on the stood a little dubiously, but once there he managed to stay still.

 “Now that you’re down from that stool we can introduce ourselves properly. I’m Hermione Granger, what’s your name?” I took her hand and shook it once firmly.

 “You remind me of somebody else Hermione, the only problem being I don’t remember who.” I let go of her hand and I checked the clock, giving it an annoyed glare.

 “What’s eating you?” Hermione inquired. I added her to the list of people I would have to keep track of in Hogwarts, right next to Harry’s name on the list of people who might prove useful, compared to Draco's name, which was currently the only name on the list of people I would likely kill if I could find a way to do it without getting in trouble for doing so.

 “I proved to be annoying enough to find a wand for that Ollivander is testing something new out, and doesn’t want me back for an hour from when I left, that being thirty minutes from now.” She brightened visibly.

 “Oh! Then we can all go together!” My mouth quirked slightly at the reactions of Her parents and McGonagall. Her parents looked to be a combination of afraid, shocked, and bored. McGonagall looked either concerned or surprised, though I wasn’t sure which.

 “Hermione, I don’t think that’s wise.” Her mother said tightly.

 “Oh come on mom! Nothing’s going to happen, you and dad and Professor Mcgonagall will be there to! It’s not like we’re going by ourselves.” I sat down on the bench and started reading through the book on runes I had bought, watching the goings-on in the shop.

 “Your turn Ms. Granger.” I frowned, putting away the book I had and removing a different one on runes.

 “Well clearly I got the wrong book.” I said, closing it sharply and placing it back in my bag as Hermione got off the stool a few minutes later.

 “What do you mean? Oh! That looks interesting, if you don’t want it, can I have it?” I waved Granger off the book and slipped it back into the bag.

 “Later. I still want to see if it gets anywhere interesting after all.”

 “I think you’re looking in the wrong kind of book for interesting reading young man, though I suspect my daughter would disagree.” Said Mr. Granger with a tense smile. I looked at the clock and smiled, the annoyance I’d felt bleed away some.

 “Finally!” I hopped off the bench and walked to Olivander’s, where He promised to be right with me after taking care of the new customers. First was Hermione, who went through about six wands before finding the right one, a ten and a quarter inch long Willow wand with a dragon heartstring core. It manifested itself in a shower of white and red sparks as Hermione flicked it back and forth.

 Harry then took his turn, Trying wand after wand until McGonagall eventually put up a shield around him just to keep the chances of injuring somebody to a minimum as he went through wand after wand. Some he got to try and wave, others Ollivander pulled from his hand almost as soon as it touched his fingers. Eventually, after breaking nearly everything in the room that could be broken despite McGonagall's shield, Harry flicked one more wand this one eleven inches long, fashioned from blackthorn with a phoenix feather core, and released a swath of gold sparks across the room that vanished after a second. After spending a few moments whispering to Harry, which even with my finely tuned sense I could barely notice, Ollivander turned to me.

 “And now for you. Let me see, It was back here somewhere, ah yes… here we go.” He bent over and pulled the only box he had not offered Harry off the ground where it had fallen. I wondered how many times he met a customer that had to go through nearly his entire stock before finding the right wand as Harry had.

 “Here’s the one I got for you, twelve and a quarter inches, a unique wand if ever I made one, acacia and red oak with a core of braided Dryad and Nymph hair, fairly flexible. A most unusual combination, and I rarely use anything other than phoenix feather, unicorn hair, and dragon heartstring for the core, but I thought perhaps I should try an unusual combination for an unusual customer...” His voice trailed off as he opened the box. I took one look in and decided I didn’t need to touch it. I knew that this was the right one for me.

 “Well go ahead, try it out. I’d hate to have this be wrong and you going to school with the wrong wand.” I picked it up, feeling the strange thrum of four differing kinds of power flowing through the wand. I slashed it through the air and sent a wave of iridescent black and red flecks flying across the room, where they left a faint line scorched into the wall. Ollivander clapped his hands heartily, cheering with gusto while McGonagall narrowed her eyes at me. I replaced the wand in it’s box, placing the wand box inside my pack alongside everything else I’d found. I smiled softly as I left the room. In a few days, I would start find out just what else I could do with my wand.

 

* * *

 

 

Once I got home I pulled out my wand, smiling faintly as I studied it. It was a thing of beauty, the two woods worked together so finely that I could only just barely make out the faint lines where the wood changed. It was a knife in shape, long and thin, perfect for stabbing, but it was also a wand, a thing of magic and until a few weeks ago, myth. I wondered how effective a knife the wand would make, given it's composition and flexibility.

I pulled out a second knife and began the painstaking process of carving the runes I put on all my knives into my wand. I carefully carved into it the runes, making sure not to carve my runes to deeply. I worked well into the night and only remember putting away the knives and my wand, but not lying down to go to sleep, just getting back up afterwards in the morning.

 I looked at the horizon, spotting the sun as it crested the rise and shot to my feet, running quickly out the door. Today I was saying good-bye to everyone for a long time, and that meant that I was saying good-bye for that last time to some of them.

 “Good-bye everyone. I’ll try and write you letters, but I don’t know if they’ll get to you.” I called as I pushed the doors open before freezing for a moment in surprise. Every single member of the gang was here to say goodbye. It took almost an hour to finish the hugs and goodbyes that entailed before I had to run so as not to be late.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My trip to Hogwarts and our crossing of the lake.  
> Why do wizards use trains? especially this one, it has terrible brakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally remembered to put this up, there's almost certainly some mistakes in here someplace, let me know if you see them so I can fix them.  
> As per the usual, Italics are thoughts.

I looked around me as I stepped onto the platform. While technically within Hawks territory(one of the other gangs) the train station was considered neutral, leading to an abnormally high amount of pickpockets who set up shop in the area. I had left the area about four years back to avoid being caught after…

 _NO! Stop thinking about that already. Maybe start looking to see where the wizards are going?_ I shrugged and walked toward platforms nine and ten, keeping my eyes open for anything. A few times I had to snatch my things back from a pickpocket who thought they were good, but for the most part I was left alone, kids from the street generally knew others no matter where from, and street kids didn’t steal from other street kids unless there was a war or things were worse than normal.

I was walking toward the barrier that was platform nine and three quarters when I spotted three things in quick succession, the first being Harry, who was sitting on his trunk with a very lost look on his face, the second being A group of redheaded Wizards walking very quickly past him while also staying close enough for him to hear whatever they were saying. The third was exactly what they were saying.

“And be careful, you know the law. And the station is packed with muggles of course, so do keep an eye out.” The mother said as they hurried along, looking a bit to intently towards Harry for it to be chance that she raised her voice slightly as they passed him. Harry started toward them and I carefully maneuvered myself next to him as he perked up, listening to them, and deposited a scrap of paper in his hand before walking through the barrier. I hoped it would be warning enough, or at least do something.

I stared at the engine in front of me. It was probably the largest train I’d ever seen, and certainly the reddest. _What, wizards use trains still? You’d think that they‘d get something better, magic has to have all kinds of nice options._

_Agreed. Why not teleporting stations or something like that? We know they can teleport, we’ve seen it._

_Indeed. Where are we going?_ I smiled and walked to one of the cars and pulled the door open, finding an empty compartment and stepped in. I carved a series of runes in the door itself, making it vanish from sight of anyone I didn’t list as allowed. I doubted that most of them were necessary, but I had included them anyway. With my runes in place I sat down and waited to see what would come of the next few hours.

A quiet knock echoed off the door, and I magically opened it, revealing that my runic wards had done something after all.

“Oh, hello, may we come in?” Harry asked timidly.

“Certainly Harry, Hermione.” I said by way of greeting as they walked in and sat down across from me. Harry handed me the scrap of paper I’d given him. I activated the combustion rune on the page without even looking at it, though I noted the amount of power I’d been using over the day was considerably higher than normal.

“Yes Harry?”

“Why’d you give me that? And what does it mean? I know the saying don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but why are you saying to do the opposite?” He asked quickly. Hermione looked more fascinated by the runes on the door than what we were discussing, so I figured she wasn’t going to speak yet.

“Maybe because I was raised to be suspicious of nearly everything. That sounds a good reason for starters.”

“But what’s your suspicion got to do with Harry? And how do you power all of these runes at once?” Hermione asked, turning away from the runes. I leaned over and deactivated the runes that had allowed Harry and Hermione to see the door.

“It’s not comfortable to have so many runes active, but I’ve learned to manage. I still try and avoid having a lot active at once if I can help it though. As for what this has to do with Harry, well what’s the first thing you think when a family walked past an obviously lost boy, who is absolutely a wizard if you look at his luggage, talking just loudly enough for people about as far from them as he is to hear them even though they talked quieter until they got close to Harry? Because I’m certainly not thinking about how nice fate has been to him.”

“That could be a problem.” Hermione said. I rolled my eyes at her, though I could practically see the gears in her head turning.

“Ya think?” I said sarcastically. Harry held up his hands, trying to calm us both down.

“It doesn’t matter now, I’ll just have to be careful.” He said placatingly. I nodded, face impassive. After a moment, Hermione’s curiosity got the better of her.

“What do all the runes on here do and how did you learn them? I thought we weren’t supposed to learn runes until third year.” I shrugged and pulled the books I’d bought from my bag and passed them to her.

“There wasn’t much useful here. I know everything it was trying to teach, and in a much more useful form than what it would have you use. The runes on the walls there allow only certain people to see the room. The runes that you’re poking at are the ones that... remove all of the runes from the walls. Thanks.” I scowled at her as the runes in question sputtered and sparked for an instant before wiping the door clean of all the sequences. I sighed as Hermione stared at the door, which was now completely clean of any mark.

“Wow! That’s a neat trick.” Harry said in surprise. I smiled at Harry’s wondering tone before I started carving the runes into the door again. I stopped when the door started to open, and slide the knife back into it’s place as I stood upright. Through the door I could see the four doors opposite, one of which was slightly open. A brown haired girl was looking through the small crack, next to her was a single blue eye with blond hair falling over the rest of the feminine face. I vaguely got the impression that I was the only one who had noticed them.

_I’ll see if I can figure anything out about them, you talk._

“Which one of you did that?” I raised my eyebrow at the unfamiliar boy standing before me, knowing exactly what he meant.

“Did what? I’m assuming something out there, because nothing interesting happened in here.” I said, keeping my body language and tone indicative of openness and honestly, despite knowing it was an outright lie.

“People are saying this door just appeared in the middle of the wall. I thought maybe you’d know why, but I guess not. Probably just Fred and George getting an early start on their pranks rather than anything actually happening. Sorry for bothering you.” He turned and walked off. Before I could close the door however, another face appeared, this one a redhead with freckles who looked about our age. I remembered he’d been one of the ones in the group that had shown Harry the way and was instantly suspicious.

“Everyone’s saying that Harry Potter in on this train, do you want to come with us and find him?” He said loudly. I shook my head, making sure I was in the line of sight between him and Harry.

“No, my friend isn’t feeling well. Motion sickness or something like it.” I said, hoping it would send him away. He vanished rather quickly. I pulled the door closed and resumed carving my runes.

“That seemed… remarkably easy for you.” Hermione said from behind me. I rolled my eyes before a thought struck me.

“And how would you know how easy lying is for somebody by looking at their back?” I kept my tone light, but it’s not exactly easy to keep from being intimidating when using a knife to carve magical symbols into a door.

“We don’t need any more fighting in here you two. Just stop, please.” Harry said tensely. I rolled my eyes at Harry’s response.

“As you will.” Hermione said. I winced, the sarcastic comment bringing unpleasant memories back. _You really are losing it. First you think she’s Silver, then you let one act remind you. Yes she said it a lot, but it’s not like it was unique to her!_ I hissed quietly as I nicked my finger on the last rune and pulled back, not activating them as I put my knife away as I gently sucked at the cut, letting the blood and spit clean away any shaving from the door that might have been stuck in the wound. Before I could activate the runes however, the door slid open again, revealing a familiar white-blonde head. The occupants of the cracked open door were still watching us.

_I’ll have to keep track of them._

“Greeting, Snowblood.” I said lightly, just a hint of taunting mixed into the light hearted prodding. Draco hissed in annoyance.

“Hello Mudblood. Best watch your tone.” Draco’s voice was cold and haughty. I looked at the two standing just behind him with passing interest. _Enforcer types, probably be good in the Cutters, assuming they’ve got more intelligence than their faces say they do._

_I doubt they’ve got much more than that though._

_You are most likely right._ I shifted slightly, not sitting down, but no longer blocking the path.

“What’s a pureblood like you doing with a mudblood?” Draco asked Harry, his tone only slightly less condescending. I snorted at Draco’s question.

“Simple. His name is Harry Potter. Muggle raised, though not born. Why would he know what blood-purity is?” Hermione informed him. Draco scowled at me and pushed past, offering his hand to Harry.

“My name is Draco Malfoy. Since you don’t know much about the Wizarding world I’d be happy to help. First you have to remember to make the right kinds of friends.” His tone and pointed gaze left no doubt that I was not the ‘right sort’ to which we was referring. Harry took his hand and shook it, though he didn’t seem pleased with doing so.

_Is he capable of not sounding like a pompous brat?_

“I think I’d best make those decisions myself, thank you though.” Harry said politely, though his voice was still tense. Draco did not seem pleased, turning his gaze to Hermione.

“And what about you?” He asked skeptically. Hermione shrugged.

“I don’t really know. I was adopted young.” She said quietly, leaning back against the bench, presenting a perfect image of somebody trying to bury emotional scars. The image was _too_ perfect. I narrowed my eyes for an instant before returning to the cheerful light hearted smile I usually maintained. Draco nodded amicably.

_Watch her closely. Something isn’t right._

_I’m already on it. As are you, I might add._

“Well I’m sure that it won’t be to hard to find out. There’s plenty of places that can do blood tests, although you could probably ask your head of house to do a basic one to find out.” Draco said before turning and exiting. I didn’t bother getting up, flicking my hand to forcefully slam the door closed, catching the edge of Draco’s robes in the now closed door, before I activated the runes I had carved, hiding the door again.

_It’s been a while since we closed doors magically because it does things like catch people's clothes. Of course, he totally needed to get caught in the door._

“Where’d you learn to lie Hermione? It can’t have been recently, you didn’t have normal tells, but you still had them, so you haven’t been employing the skill much around people who can see that sort of thing.” I said as I looked through my bag, looking for the books on runes I had bought. She looked away.

“Some friends. Probably dead by now, both of them. It was before I was adopted, a few years back. It’s part of why my parents are uncomfortable with street kids, they worry I’ll find somebody I knew and run off.” Her tone was tender, almost regretful as she spoke. I knew better than to try and pry deeper. There would be consequences if we did it without extreme care.

“Who were they? What were they like? Why’d they teach you how to lie?” Harry asked. I closed my eyes, lying down on the bench, maintaining my carefree appearance despite how much I wanted to beat my head against the wall.

_Or we can just do that._

_Yeah, why use tact when we can get ourselves set up for almost certain and very painful death?_

“Are you alright Harry?” Hermione asked, ignoring his questions. I looked up from my bag and saw that Harry did indeed look slightly ill.

“I’m fine Hermione, I just… I’m not good with trains. Once I get off I’ll be fine.” He whispered tensely. I stood up and opened the door, letting it close behind me. Maybe he would be fine after, but I sure didn’t think we should have to put up with it for the entirety of the trip. Several hours of that would be too long for anyone to have to deal with it.

_He’ll be fine, he’s not some street kid who’s tough enough for any fight but can’t survive a cold._

_Maybe not, but if I let go of everyone who isn’t, will I be able to come back or will I have changed to much? Will I go back and discover that I—we have become what we tried to avoid so long?_

_If that happens…_

_I know. We made a promise. But it won’t come to that if we can avoid it._ The voices in my head lapsed into a poignant silence. About halfway down the train I found a witch wheeling a trolley down the cars.

“Excuse me, but do you know of something to help anxiety based motion sickness?” I asked her. She looked at me like I had two heads and a tail, which I was almost one hundred percent certain I didn’t have.

“Not sure what you mean, but chocolate makes for a mighty fine cure all for most simple things, if that’s what you’re after. Wizard’s chocolate, that is. Muggle chocolate isn’t good for nearly as much.” She said, adding the last bit as an afterthought. I passed her a few coins and walked back to my compartment with a couple of chocolates of various types.

“I asked around, somebody said this might help. If you’d told me that two months ago, I’d have asked what you were on. Now… Now I’ll probably still ask what you’re on, but only after I took some.” I said, tossing a piece of chocolate to Harry. Harry looked at the chocolate I had tossed in his lap and shrugged, taking a careful bite. A few seconds later he’d practically inhaled the rest.

“Well, I didn’t think chocolate would have healing properties, but I guess magic isn’t exactly normal is it?” Harry responded, a bit more relaxed than he’d been before. Hermione rolled her eyes, but she still took a piece.

“I don’t suppose you could say what you asked for a cure to?” She asked me as she bit down.

“Anxiety based motion sickness.” I said easily. Harry and Hermione both frowned, though I doubted it was for the same reason.

“You asked for a cure to something you thought he had based off how he reacted to the train?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“What does that mean?” Harry asked at the same time. The overall effect of the two talking over each other through their mouths full of chocolate made it hard to understand much, so I asked them to swallow and repeat, one at a time, before responding.

“I based my diagnosis off Harry’s reaction to Malfoy, among other things. He seemed to be doing a bit better when He first started talking to Malfoy, but then after a few words he started getting worse. When you asked him if he was okay he got a bit better then a bit worse, indicating it wasn’t the train so much as something else. I assumed anxiety based off being on the train. What that means Harry, is that your motion sickness is all in your head.” My tone was airy for most of the statement, as though I wasn’t actually thinking about it and just spouting off random technical sounding words, though I shifted to teasing for the second part. Having said my piece I curled up on the floor between the benches and tried to get a bit of sleep. I’d gotten precious little of that the day before.

 

* * *

 

 

I snatched at the hand on my side, catching the wrist tightly before I even opened my eyes. A second later I realized I was not in the Warehouse, and was in fact on a train. A bit after that I remembered why I was on a train and let go of Hermione's hand.

“Sorry, what is it?” I asked, shifting easily to my feet.

“I woke you because it’s about time to change into our robes, we’re nearly there.” Hermione said, fishing around in her trunk. I groaned and shifted into an upright position.

_This year is going to be a pain._

_I imagine I already know why, but is there anything on your list that I don’t have?_

_Well there’s that pain Malfoy, collared uniforms with extra layers, structured systems, and there’s not likely to be much to let us keep in shape… that is the right term, isn’t it?_

_Yes, it is, and no, I don’t have anything to add to the list._

Hermione pulled her robes from her trunk as I pulled Harry out the door as I opened it, moving through the door myself a second later.

“And we’ll just let her change first shall we?” I said to the air, as though it could really hear me. The door closed tightly behind us and we leaned against it, waiting for Hermione to finish. Harry didn’t seem to have realized that I wasn’t talking to him.

“Why her first and not somebody else? What’s the plan now?” Harry asked, keeping his voice low to avoid being heard. I ignored him. A few minutes passed, during which several dozen students rushed back and forth, some seemed thoroughly mystified as to how to change with so many people in the train, others seemed to know what they were doing and led others from one car to another. I thought it funny, though Harry seemed unsure why people weren’t doing the same thing we were. Eventually the door opened and Hermione slipped out.

“Alright, your turn. Why can’t I see the door anymore?” She asked, looking at the wall she’d just stepped out of.

“I disabled the runes that let you and Harry see the door. I’ll pull him back in once I’m done and once you’re done Harry, open the door and we’ll come back in.” I told them before slipping through the door and closing it tightly behind me. Once the door closed I removed My normal clothes and pulled on most of the uniform, though I left the vest off. I slipped my knives into new hiding spots in my uniform, noting that the overcoat in particular made them easy to hide. Everything cleaned up, except my vest, I opened the door and pulled Harry inside, stepping out and leaning against the door next to Hermione.

I watched the students moving up and down the hall, noting that one other group seemed to have adopted our strategy since I left. They were the same ones who had been watching us, three girls stood outside the door of a compartment one over from ours. As Harry opened the door to our compartment I noticed their door opening as well, revealing a single boy. They entered their compartment and we entered ours, Most decidedly not looking in our direction.

_To decidedly not. They’re trying not to be caught, but they suck at it. Except her. The blonde one isn’t terrible._

_She isn’t good at it though._

_I didn’t say she was._

“You said that some friends of yours taught you how to lie when you were younger. How did you meet them?” Harry asked again once we were settled. I handed him another piece of chocolate, noticing that some of his anxiety symptoms were returning. He smiled thankfully and took a large bite.

“They were just some kids I knew.” Hermione responded vaguely, taking another piece of chocolate as well.

“Just some kids you know wouldn’t teach you how to lie.” Harry countered between bites. She glowered at him, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the large piece of chocolate she was trying to chew at the same time. When Harry refused to give up the point she relented. I wondered what she was planning on doing to him when they were alone. I decided it absolutely wasn’t going to be pleasant, but beyond that I wasn’t sure.

“Fine. When I was about six I was orphaned and ran off to live on the streets once I saw how we were treated in the orphanages. While I was there I met a couple other kids who helped me learn how to live on the streets. When I was seven I got caught and returned to the orphanage, where I was adopted by my current parents. That answer your question?” She spat angrily. Harry nodded, looking sadly at the ground.

_I get the feeling she doesn’t like talking about her past._

_Whyever do you think that?_

“Makes us three of a kind. All lost our families when we were young, lived wherever we could. Wonder who else shares that story.” I mused, my tone almost serious. Hermione jerked her head up at me, eyes narrowing.

“Back in Madam Malkin’s, you said you thought you recognized me. That made my parents nervous, since they knew you were a street kid by how you looked and acted, and that triggered their… more protective instincts, which is why they were worried. I want to know why you said that.” She said, suddenly extremely focused. I smiled wanly and turned, looking out the window.

“You just remind me of a girl I met on the streets, that’s all.” I told her quietly for once I didn’t inject any joy or false cheer into the words.

_I can’t do that to their memory, can I?_

_No. I don’t expect you to either._ I was certain she would have pressed me for more if the train hadn’t braked right then, sending us crashing into each other. Once we had untangled ourselves I dismissed the runes on the door and pulled it open.

“That is why I think Wizards should have a better method of transportation than trains.” I stated. With that, we left the train, just a bit ahead of the horde of students that disembarked soon after. Off to one side, a massive figure was bellowing loudly.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years this way! Firs’ year’s this way!” Harry lit up, pointing.

“That’s Hagrid! He helped me get all my things back in Diagon alley.” Harry said as he started towards the giant. I logged that away just in case and followed Harry as he raced toward Hagrid, assuming that Hermione would end up in the same general area as us later on.

_This might be important._

_It will become important, you mean. Uh… do either of us have names? I know we’ve only just started to exist as separate beings over the past few weeks, but it seems to me that we should have separate names._

_Noted. I’ll be Thorn and you can be Steel._

_Good enough for me._

“You alrigh’ there Harry? Good. Firs’ Years! Firs’ years!” Hagrid said as Harry approached.

_Still following him? You’re acting just like you did with Silver and Winter. Overly protective, too attached. It’ll get you killed someday Steel._

_That’s a risk I’ll take. And technically you took it too._

_And you’ll keep taking it until it kills you, just watch. I have no intention of doing so however, but I’m not in control. I suppose you aren’t either, but that’s not the point!_

_I most likely will, yes. And you’re right, we aren’t actually in control of our motion, just of the other thoughts. Or something… I don’t know._ Hagrid led us down a path to a lake with a nice view of a large castle which was, apparently, Hogwarts. I looked around me and spotted the four from the train coming closer and ducked away out of sight, moving Harry and Hermione away from Hagrid as we went along. I kept out of sight after moving them to a place where they were less visible. The trick was doing it without anyone noticing that was what I was doing. We reached the boats and I realized there wasn’t anything to move them.

 _Well duh, magic._ I stepped into an empty boat and waited, watching the others as they climbed into their boats. Harry and Hermione climbed into a boat with two boys I didn’t recognize. On the other side a few boats down, the four kids who had been tailing us climbed into a boat only a few down from mine, only just visible in the light of the torches along the path. I doubted anyone would be recognizably visible once we got started. A bit later Draco and his goons climbed into mine, and I determined to be on guard.

The boats set off across the lake as one once we were all aboard, and as I’d expected when we got about halfway across the lake, Draco nodded thinking his signal was subtle, and I had to admit, if I weren’t who I was, I’d have missed it in the shadowy light and rippling reflections in the water. Both of his enforcers rose, moving towards me, balling their hands into fists.

_Unlike Draco, they seem to have no subtlety._

_As opposed to almost none?_

_Did I imply otherwise?_

“Hey there! Who’s that moving in their boats?” Hagrid’s voice echoed across the lake as the boats came to a stop. As both enforcers stumbled at the sudden stop I leaned backwards as though yawning and simultaneously kicked them both sharply in their outward leg, sending their already unbalanced frames right off the edge of the boat. It looked completely accidental, and I intended to play it off as such.

“What’s the lake like Boys? I hear there’s a nice kraken in there somewhere, was that what you wanted to see by diving in there?” I inquired of the two as they struggled to stay afloat. I turned to face Hagrid as he pulled up in his boat.

“Righ’ now, what’s this about. Why are these two in the lake?” He said as he started trying to get hold of the two. I smiled broadly, though I doubted he could see it in the moonlight.

“I think they wanted to see the squid!” I shouted in an overly excited tone. Hagrid pulled both boys from the water and dropped them in the boat, soaking wet, with a wet sounding plop.

“I’ll be keeping an eye on you four. I don’t know what happened, but I better not see it happen again.” He said gruffly. I nodded, saluting mockingly the moment his back was turned.

“But of course Hagrid.” I whispered quietly. With Hagrid sitting next to us, we crossed the second half of the lake without anything worse than a few pointed glares being passed between us.

_Did we HAVE to yell like that?_

_I don’t know. Not in control, remember?_

_I know, I was wondering if there were other options._

_There were, I don’t know if they were better ones though._

“My toad! Where’s my toad?” A worried voice called out as we came to a stop against the shore. I sighed, shaking my head in mock sympathy.

“Oh lovely, a missing toad. Do you suppose toads like rocks in the dead of night? Maybe if we throw one hard enough it’ll make the toad jump around so we can find it!” I said, looking around as though trying to find the toad before I bent over to find a nice rock. The two enforcers each picked up rocks and threw them at me. I dodged them both as I threw my own, which struck the ground only a few inches from Hagrid. When he turned and looked at us he saw me looking around while the two enforcers hefted large rocks off the ground and prepared to throw. After an entertaining enraged monologue somebody found the missing toad and we started up the path.

In our hike up the path nothing to noticeable happened as Draco seemed to have gotten both of his enforcers to stop trying stupid ideas for the moment. The end of our hike led us to a pair of massive doors which Hagrid knocked at before giving Draco’s group a harsh look. I had separated myself from them by now and avoided being spotted by him in the next few moments before the doors opened.

“Firs’ years Professor McGonagall, those three have been causing trouble already, so it might be best to watch them.” Hagrid informed the woman who stood in the doorway, a familiar face to me, as he indicated Draco’s trio. I smiled slightly wider, glad nobody could see the wolfish smile that crossed my lips for a few moments.

“I see Hagrid. You are excused for now, I will take them from here.” Mcgonagall said, gesturing for us to follow as she turned and moved down the hall behind her.

We followed her to a large waiting room. I slipped in under McGonagall’s arm as she opened the door and watched everyone as they entered. I spotted both Malfoy and the girl from the train easily as their white-blonde hair made them easy to spot. Behind the girl and her three friends were Harry and Hermione, who started wandering the room as were most of the other students. I moved behind one of the strange statues that decorated the room and  started quietly carving another rune into my wand, this one a slightly modified version of one on a couple knives I had, making it reflect any magic it touched while the rune was active. I had the feeling I would need it soon. As I finished, Harry and Hermione walked up next to me.

“He used to do that to. I wish I could remember more. Bits and pieces is all. I don’t remember much about him, but some of the things you do remind me of him.” Hermione said, indicating my carving. I cocked my head to one side then smiled at her.

“Time hasn’t changed us as much as might have been expected then has it, Silver?” I asked, actual happiness mixed into the playful tone. She gasped, eyes widening, while Harry looked even more confused.

“Just so you’re in the know as well Harry, I was one of the friends who taught Her how to lie. Of course, this being several years ago and with none of us very focused on remembering each other rather than staying alive and such-like, remembering each other wasn’t easy.” I informed the boy.

“So how is Winter? I thought I saw her, that’s why I was slower in coming in, but it can’t have been her. Too well fed and far too stuck up acting. In that little@#%$&^* Malfoy’s gang, acting just like one of them.” Hermione asked brightly. I looked away.

“She… Was found. Her family came one day and took her back. Pulled her right off the streets without even a chance to say goodbye. Not like when you got caught. I turned my back for just a moment, then she was halfway down the street. I didn’t manage to help out, but I heard enough to know she was with her family, or with somebody rich enough to make everyone act like they were. It was almost exactly a year after you.” I said softly, studying the girl Hermione had meant, the one from the train.

_First thing you do when you meet an old friend is conveniently forget to tell them something they’ll probably find important. We’re good at this aren’t we?_

_Yes, the absolute best Steel. Absolute. Best._ Hermione turned away, making her way back into the group. A bit later she came back, her expression annoyed. I narrowed my eyes at the four that were watching us, staying mostly out of sight. They were intrigued rather than disgusted by us, in contrast to the rest of Draco’s group. _Fascinating. I will have to keep close watch of all of them._

_At least those four. The rest are marks first and fellow students second._

_Yes Thorn, I know._

“I couldn’t even get to her. Draco already managed to convince a good number of our yearmates that you did something or other that means that as I was in the same compartment as you, I can’t be spoken to.” Hermione said in a rather put out tone. I snorted.

“I threw his enforcers into the lake when they tried to serve up a pair of knuckle sandwiches. Apparently he’s not too happy with that. Of course, this was all in standard style so I’m not even on the suspect list.” I said, pointing a finger-gun at Draco and pretending to shoot him. Both of them laughed.

“I wish we’d been there to see his face when he saw you knock them both into the lake.” Harry exclaimed. I laughed and clapped Harry on the shoulder.

“You’ll fit right in with an attitude like that Harry, welcome to the club. Now to decide what to call you. Can’t be Harry, it’s not… right.” I told him. Hermione snickered.

“If we wanted to be both mean and obvious, you’d be Scarface. But I think we should try and avoid that.”

“Not Survivor either. Maybe… Breaker, maybe, on account of the events surrounding your wand choosing.” I said, looking around the room. Harry looked between us in bewilderment for a second then shook his head.

“Why don’t we start with how you two got your names, and what they are exactly.” He said, getting a deer in the headlights look. I fake pouted as I handed him the last piece of chocolate.

“But that’s no fun!” I complained. Hermione slugged me in the arm.

“Ouch! Alright, alright! I’m Steelthorn because of the first fight I was in, where the guy I was fighting afterwards said that when he was moving to pick a flower, he had not seen the steel thorns. It’s simple really.”

“And I’m Silver because when Steelthorn first met me I was halfway through talking a jeweler into giving me a silver bracelet. It was shortened to Silver a while later from Silvertongue.”

“And then both of you realized it wasn’t on the counter anymore and turned the shop over for the better part of ten minutes while I watched from outside the window and laughed.” I said, eyes alight with the memories.

“Until we found you, anyway.” Hermione reminded me.

“And then you talked him out of charging me don’t forget.” I countered, tone still upbeat. Hermione rolled her eyes at me.

“Only after I got you to agree to help me out since you’d messed up my con.” she said sharply. I made a face but nodded and conceded the point. The four were still giving us appraising glances and talking among themselves.

“Fair point.” I admitted.

“Then I’ll be… What are those!” We turned to see what Harry was point at, discovering a group of ghosts floating about and conversing with the students.

“Ghosts, Potter. Didn’t you read _Hogwarts, a History_?” Hermione asked him, a slightly exasperated edge in her voice. I rolled my eyes at her, though she didn’t notice.

_Still a reader, that’s for sure._

“Not really, I had other things that I had to do.” Harry said as he unconsciously pulled out his wand a waved it about a bit, using it to gesture in the air as he spoke.

“Like finding a way to convince My aunt and uncle to drive me to King’s Cross, they’d never have done it without me finding a way to convince them to let me go.” He said, setting sparks flying about the space around him. I ducked as a few sparks flew my way and he put his wand away, embarrassed.

“Be more careful Sparky, you’ll burn something important!” I said as I straightened again.

“Sparky eh? It works.” Hermione said, smirking. Harry groaned.

“Don’t I get a say in the matter? It’s my name isn’t it?” He asked, though his tone implied he had already given up. We both shook our heads.

“The person being named never does.” I pointed at the four I had noticed earlier, nudging Hermione as I did.

“Is it just me or do those four look like they’re separate from Malfoy’s group?” Hermione turned towards the group then back to me, nodding.

“Yes those four do look like they’re separate. Not like they aren’t in the same group, but like there’s a smaller group inside Draco’s group.” She said. I nodded, agreeing with her assessment.

“Come along, all of you. It’s time for your sorting.” McGonagall's voice cut through the air like a whip and ending our conversation.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here Steelthorn, we wrote this for that collection of scribbles you call a recording of our early lives since it’ll probably be important to helping other people understand your jumbled mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus/side chapter I decided to put in here that I started mid-last week (that's what caused the delay in chapter posting, sorry) It's collectively written by the main four characters shown in the chapter, hence the change from first to third person.  
> Underlined text is thieves signal, a collection of hand signals that Steelthorn, Winter, and Silver turned into a full language similar to Sign language.

Tracey and Daphne hurried aboard the train, not wanting to miss it. Daphne jumped easily aboard the train despite dragging her large trunk behind her. Tracey thought she was being ridiculous, to have been so insistent that she do it non-magically. Tracey’s boarding was slightly less smooth, though unlike her adopted sister, she wasn’t dragging a large trunk behind her.

Daphne studied the train car for a bit after entering, trying to figure out why she felt something was wrong. Next to her Tracey did the same.

“I know that look Daphne, what are you looking for?” Tracey said, picking a compartment and pulling it open, her trunk floating in behind her. Daphne shrugged and followed Tracey in and pushed her trunk onto the shelf next to Tracey’s.

“I saw Steelthorn come in here, and now there’s something off about the car, but I don’t know what. It’s like… Like I know what is wrong, but I keep forgetting.” Daphne pulled the compartment door open slightly and peeked out the door, looking up and down the hall for the source of the wrongness.

“What are you looking for Daph?” Tracey asked as she leaned over and started looking around the hall as well.

“I know they’re here. I don’t know how, but Steelthorn will have found her, and probably somebody else important as well and they’ll be here, in this car. I just don’t know where which is strange, he always… marked his… Ohhhhh.” Daphne paused in her searching the hall and closed the door, pulling Tracey back into her seat and sitting next to her.

“What is it Daph?” Tracey asked, figuring that whatever it was it had to do with what they were looking for.

“I just remembered. Once he learned how to do it, Steelthorn almost never hid anywhere without placing runes that made an area disappear from sight if you weren’t on the list of people he allowed to see it, and everyone else just ignored it, looking from one side to the other like muggles do with the Leaky Cauldron.” Daphne said, thinking to those years past. Tracey thought over what She’d been told for a moment.

“So it’s like a really really powerful notice-me-not charm and the fidelius charm. At the same time. How powerful is he again?” Tracey said wonderingly. Before Daphne could answer the door was pulled fully open and two others stepped in. Both girls recognized them instantly and rose to greet them.

“Fortune follows, Heir Nott, Heiress Rosier.” The two of them said, curtsying.

“Fortune follows, Heiress Greengrass, Lady Davis.” The two newcomers responded, extending one hand to raise them, acknowledging their greeting. The boy and girl placed their things in the shelves overhead and sat down across from the two girls. Daphne pulled the door closed as they sat.

“So what are you two up to today hmm?” Theodore Nott asked. Alison Rosier slapped him gently.

“Theo that’s no way to speak to potential allies. Especially not… talented ones like them. I apologize for him, he’s been out of sorts for the past few days, ever since his younger sister Isabella fell ill.” Alison said, her manner and tone were perfectly serene, a Perfect noble who was too young to be accepted as such yet.

“Of course. We are sorry for her illness.” Tracey said, including Daphne in the acceptance of the apology.

“Ugh! This is ridiculous. I know there’s proper ways and improper ways, but I’m not in the mood for that right now. Just skip to the important bits please!” Theo said suddenly. The three girls were glad the compartments were shielded from eavesdroppers or that would have been troublesome indeed.

“As you wish, my lord.” Alison told him, gently running one hand along his back.

“Theo and I have a proposition for you on account of certain elements we’ve… overheard. However, He’s quite insistent that you must first agree to do away with most of the formalities when we are alone, though I cannot understand why.” she continued, speaking to Daphne and Tracey.

“As your lord wishes.” Daphne responded, matching Alison’s noble bearing with her own, slightly less regal, manner. She very carefully did not let the tinge of jealousy she felt at Alison’s perfect act show.

“Does this mean you’re Theo and Alison right now?” Tracey asked carefully, not wanting to disrupt anything important by using the wrong name.

“Yes. It does. Now here is our proposition. The two of you have something of a reputation for spotting opportunities, if one looks in the right circles. So we want to form an alliance of sorts, it can’t be official since, naturally, none of us are heads of house yet.” Theo gave Tracey a pointed look, as she would become the first head of house from those present.

“The terms of the alliance are simple. When you find something that could prove valuable, tell us. In exchange, we will share what resources of our houses that we can access with you should need arise.” Theo stated, his tone still semi-formal. Tracey closed her eyes, studying her mental shields for intrusion and thinking about the proposition. It looked good on the outset, but neither side could guarantee anything would come of it. Daphne did not close her eyes, keeping track of the pair as she to pondered the situation.

“Very well. I accept.” Daphne said after a few more minutes of thought. In the worst case, she had just formed a tenuous alliance with two fairly strong houses, houses that would become a house stronger than even the Malfoys in a few years. Tracey nodded in agreement.

“Excellent.”

“We’re actually working on something right now, you see, so that was part of what made it take so long.” Daphne explained, deliberately dropping the hint.

“And what might that be?” Theo asked, intrigued.

“Do you know of the events following my… my betrothed passing?” Daphne asked, a slight hitch in her voice which she covered quickly.

“Somewhat. Our families are not very close on account of our... histories but we are aware that you entered a mourning period of two and a half years, give or take, which is considerably longer than traditionally expected.” Alison responded, watching Daphne closely.

“I didn’t though. That’s just the story. You can’t spread this of course, but I left. Spent two years living on the streets. I mostly expected to die, it was why I’d left, after all, trying to get myself killed and go follow him. This was a long time ago and I’ve since learned better, but during the first few weeks I met a boy and girl who took me in, taught me, and together we were almost legends, the three of us ruled the streets in a way. Any con we tried, any thefts we planned, it always worked. The reason was that we had something nobody else did. Three wizards using their magic, even if unconsciously, to turn the odds in our favor. After a while we were split up by circumstances, I got found by my family and returned home, where I spent a few months grieving all my losses, first Lucas, my betrothed, then my friends who had brought me past his death. After that I returned to the wizarding world and life mostly went back to normal.” Daphne finished, studying Theo and Alison, seeing if they accepted her story or, like most, dismissed it as to outlandish.

“And these two, they are here now?” Alison inquired, glancing at the door for a split second.

“I only know where the better of the other two is, sort of. Steelthorn is somewhere in this car, hidden behind a latticework of spells. His magic is… unique. Instead of wanting things to happen and then trying to explain the strange situations where the world aligns itself to his wishes, he was taught an alphabet by some strange method. He didn’t share anything specific. When he properly learned that alphabet he was able to write certain words and they would have power. He could write sentences that did what he wrote, but only when he used certain words. For example, one of his favorites, the one he’s hiding behind now, uses the word conceal. He tried using hide, but it didn’t take, just a bunch of scribbles nobody but him understood.

“The other, we called her Silver but she’ll probably go by something else now, was less obvious with her magic, subtly influencing people as she spoke, but she had a thirst for knowledge, to improve things. She’ll become a spell creator when she leaves Hogwarts, if she isn’t one before then, I’d bet you anything on that. Right now, we’re trying to just find them, see where exactly they are but…” Daphne trailed off. Theo grinned, nodding in understanding.

“But they’re hiding behind a bunch of spells and things that make it impossible to find them.” He finished. Daphne nodded.

“Daphne, do those runes what is being hidden or the minds of the people looking at it?” Tracey asked suddenly, looking up from the window.

“I… don’t know, why?”

“Because if it only affects the mind, then sharing a memory of the room might let us see the door.” Tracey responded, a gleam in her eyes. Daphne pulled the door open a crack, looking up and down the halls, which were now packed with people. She smiled, spotting a pair of heads that suddenly vanished about midway down the car.

“Tracey, you’re better at notice-me-nots than I am, can you place one on the door?” Daphne asked, pulling it closed again. Tracey nodded and flicked her wand, muttering for a moment before the door flickered, fuzzing for a moment before it solidified again. Daphne leaned over to Tracy, taking bother her hands, and began a sharing.

 

|~~~~~|

 

Daphne shivered despite herself as she slipped into the sharing. A silvery mimicry of the hall she had just seen surrounded her. Next to her, Tracy appeared, looking around. Daphne pulled Tracey to where the two heads were about to vanish, gesturing towards the space they were entering. Tracey smiled and pulled Daphne along behind her as she followed them. As they crossed some invisible line, Daphne could suddenly see the door they were looking for, the third door in the car, hidden behind magic from normal vision. They looked around, getting a good look at the rooms occupants, who were frozen in the last motion Daphne had seen them make, even though she hadn’t known they were there yet. They looked at each other, nodded, and left the sharing.

 

|~~~~~|

 

“Well, we found their door. It’s next to the second door on the right, but before the last door. You’ll never guess who he’s let in there with him.” Tracey told Alison and Theo, nearly bursting with excitement.

“Who is it and what were you doing?” Theo asked, trying not to look to interested.

“First, what we were doing is what we call a sharing. I don’t know why, but we can share memories between each other when we touch, kind of like a personal pensieve. Second, this is something you have to know about Steelthorn. His runes are very specific, so if you’re in that room right now, he let you there. He doesn’t let many people inside that particular rune. He doesn’t trust most people. That leads us to the last point, which I think I’ll let Tracey share.” Daphne said, poking her adopted sister, who looked like her head was about to explode.

“He’sgotHarryPotterinthereIsawhisscar!” She said in a rush, before realizing she’d spoken to quickly and taking a few breaths before trying again.

“Harry Potter is in there, I saw the scar, it’s him.” She reiterated. That got what little of their attention that hadn’t already been directed at them.

“So if I get this straight, you’re telling me that in that room, the one we can’t see, is a powerful wizard who uses a unique type of magic, a witch who is almost certainly going to become a famous spell creator, and the Heir to the two houses that are almost stronger than House Malfoy by themselves, making him the most powerful house lord in all magical Britain. No wonder nobody ever believed you when you first mentioned seeing these things, it sounds positively insane! I love it!” Theo said before he turned and again looked out the window.

“I say we watch and see if any of them leave the room so we can verify this. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying it sounds a bit to good to not need some proof.” Alison decided, considering the situation. Daphne pulled the door open a bit and looked at where she knew the door to be, even though she couldn’t see it.

The space that wasn’t there wiggled, as though there were a heat wave passing it. The four occupants of the compartment zeroed in on the space almost instantly. A second later the door reappeared, startling off the student who had been walking down the hall.

“One for one so far, door nobody could see, check.” Theo whispered almost silently, keeping track.

A prefect walked down the hall and opened the door, revealing three occupants, one girl and two boys, one who had shoulder-length silver flecked black hair. Daphne smiled, eyes flicking over the first two, confirming that they were Harry potter and Silver, before looking at Steelthorn. She jerked slightly as she realized he had been looking straight at them, eyes piercing the charm  as though it hadn’t been there.

The prefect spoke with them for a moment then left, the door closing quickly behind him. A bit later Ronald Weasley came tromping down the hall, pulling open doors and asking if they wanted to come with them to find Harry. The four in the hidden compartment winced as he knocked on the door they were watching. Steelthorn was again in the door. His eyes flicked to the four in the supposedly hidden compartment before turning back to Ronald. A few words were exchanged and Ronald shot off down the hall, ignoring the other doors in the car as he left.

“I can approve of that, absolutely a good thing if he can send Weasley off like that. The others aren’t so bad, not great but not bad either, Ronald though... well let’s just try and ignore him.” Alison said, looking back to the closed door.

“Bad history or something?” Tracey asked her.

“You could say that. His family isn’t to far from our mansion and… well you know how that goes, so I got to know him for a while before we found a way to separate ourselves from them. He’s such a pain. Not bad as a person, but so annoying, like of all his siblings he got the rough edges and nobody is trying to polish them away.” Alison said. Another group entered the door and all four of us hissed in mutual hatred of the lead figure.

“Malfoy…”

“So where do you say we start first Goyle? Davis and that bitch Daphne have to be somewhere on this train after all.” Draco said. Then promptly ignored the finger Goyle pointed towards a random door and pulled open another one instead. The one where Steelthorn, Harry, and Silver were. They talked for a bit then Draco pushed in, shaking hands with Harry and speaking with Hermione before leaving and opening a different door. The door slammed shut on Draco’s robes, giving all of us a laugh, particularly when the door, and therefore the end of Draco’s robe, vanished. Draco was pulled up short by his caught robe and tugged for a moment before it was released from the invisible door. We closed our door, hoping Draco wouldn’t see through Tracey’s notice-me-not. Daphne smiled widely, not caring that others might see her emotions right now.

“What’s so funny Daphne?” Tracey asked, looking slightly worried.

“Draco’s as good as dead. Steelthorn is a master of this game, and Draco doesn’t even know he picked up the cards. Give the two of them a few years and Draco will either be licking Steelthorn’s boots—”

“Not likely.” Theo snorted.

“�—Or he’ll be a corpse. We’ll all know who did it, but for one reason or another, Steelthorn won’t be able to be blamed.” Daphne said, sitting down primly in her chair.

“How do you know that? Draco can less abrasive than usual as far as muggleborns go maybe he’ll play nice when he decides Steelthorn could be an asset.”

“He just offended Steelthorn and one of Steelthorn’s best friends. Once we do go over things again to talk—and we will, one way or another the three of us at the very least will be talking within two weeks, probably less—then Draco’s got a minimum of three strikes against his name. Steelthorn usually gives a maximum of five. And that’s for people he likes.” Daphne responded, smiling evilly. A few moments passed before anyone else spoke again as they waited for Daphne’s smile to go away.

“Anyone up for exploding snap?” Theo eventually asked, holding out a deck.

“Theo, that’s not proper—”

“Alison, what else are we going to do for the rest of the trip?”

“As you wish my lord.”

 

|~~~~~|

 

“I ran into a prefect while I was gone, apparently it’s about time for students to put on their uniforms.” Tracey informed the other three as she returned from the bathroom.

“Thank you Tracey. How are we planning on doing that? It’s not as though we can change here right now.” Alison asked, blushing slightly. Daphne smirked at her, pulling Alison and Tracey out of their seats and out the door.

“Well first Theo changes while we watch the corridor, then You go change Alison, and then once you’re both done Tracey and I will change. Once you’re finished just come back out.” She said as they walked out the door. It closed behind them, leaving Theo to change. He sighed, shaking his head as he started dressing. It went against his upbringing to make the ladies wait, but he hadn’t been given a say.

“Huh, there they are again. They seem to have a similar plan. Er… Are there three of them or two of them?” Tracey asked, looking at the duo standing in front of the missing door.

“There’s three, Harry and Steelthorn are probably waiting for Silver to change or she'd be out here too.” Daphne said, leaning against their own door which was still hidden by Tracey’s Notice-me-not charm.

“Is it just me or is Steelthorn a bit less… obviously useful then Daphne made him seem?” Tracey asked Alison quietly. Daphne smiled and shrugged, looking around the entire hall as they waited, watching everyone racing up and down the car.

“Tracey, could you put a notice-me-not on us please? Thank you.” Alison said, Nodding as Tracey did so.

“Well, he seemed to have been completely unaffected by it. Everyone else isn’t looking toward us, but he’s still watching us. It’s like it’s not there. It’s… odd.” Tracey said, shivering slightly.

“Oh please. If that’s worrying you, you really shouldn’t go near him.” Daphne said, still leaning against the wall in a easy stance, waiting for anything interesting to happen. A girl appeared next to Harry and Steelthorn, they talked for a moment, and then Steelthorn vanished, stepping through his invisible barrier.

“Well. that’s something.” Theo commented, having seen Steelthorn disappear as he left the compartment.

“It was more interesting the first few times I saw it.” Daphne stated uninterestedly, straightening up and sending Alison into the compartment to change.

Steelthorn changed much faster than Alison, Theo, or Silver had and stepped out looking… different. While most just looked like they were wearing a school uniform when they put on the Hogwarts clothes, as was evidenced by the many students already moving around the train, Steelthorn made it look like he was wearing dueling robes somehow. The difference in the way they moved, flowing rather than flopping around. Loose and unrestricting, allowing for a wide range of motion, compared to the sharp crisp folds that dominated the other students uniforms.

“Are you sure that’s the Hogwarts uniform and not dueling robes in the same colors?” Theo asked after looking Steelthorn over for a bit.

“I’m really not sure. I don’t think so, because dueling robes wouldn’t be Steelthorn’s thing, but I really couldn’t tell you.” Daphne said, jerking as she realized that Steelthorn had just pointed them out to Silver as he sent Harry into the compartment.

“Well that’s unfortunate. Silver just saw us.” Daphne commented idly. Theo leaned forward, watching a bit more intently.

“I don’t think so…” He said doubtfully.

“No, she saw us. See how she’s maneuvering herself to keep track of us while forcing Steelthorn into his vest? If I didn’t know better I’d say he did it on purpose.” Tracey told Theo, pointing to certain times when Silver held up for an instant to long as she turned towards them, letting her get a good view of them. Alison pushed the door open, letting Daphne and Tracey back in to change.

“Anything?”

“No. Neither one of them were doing any magic other than the notice-me-nots Tracey’s has up, and those aren’t strong enough to cover illusion magic as strong as they would need here. It’s all true as far as I can tell.” Alison said, slipping her wand back into her sleeve.

“Then we go ahead with our alliance don’t we? They’re willing to help us, it’s only fair that we help them in return.” Theo said heavily.

“I just hope that it doesn’t come down to us versus the Malfoys. We might have more power in the ministry and wizengamot, but they have much, much more power in other methods. We wouldn’t win an all-out fight, they’ve got to many fallbacks. We need a way to force them to fight strictly in the ministry and wizengamot or…” Alison trailed off.

“Or we need someone or something that can counteract their power in the less legal courses of action.” Theo finished, leaning against her shoulder. The two of them stood like that for a few minutes, leaning against each other, each supporting the other as they waited.

“We’re going to have to let them in on it. Either we can trust them completely and they’ll help us enormously, or… or we can’t and we’ll lose anyway. We can’t keep going like this by ourselves Theo, we’ll crumble beneath it without any effort from the Malfoys.” Alison whispered, eyes closed against the crushing despair that often resulted when they thought about their goal to long. Theo sighed.

“Are you sure? What if they aren’t as trustworthy as we thought? Or if we fail anyway? I don’t want to bring them down as well.” He said, making sure nobody else could hear before speaking.

“We’ll bring it to them all. Steelthorn and his group, Daphne and Tracey, anyone else we can recruit. We don’t have much time though. Either we’ll tell them soon or it’ll be too late and we’ll drag them down when we fall, their choice won’t matter anymore.”

“I know Alison. I know. We’ll ask them before the month ends. It might be too late even then, but it’s better than nothing.”

The door opened again and Daphne and Tracey beckoned them back in. The pair turned and entered the compartment, leaving the room in silence as they sat, not speaking again. Tracey and Daphne spoke quietly, switching between hand signs and words and back quite often, making their conversation unintelligible to the other two occupants of the space, even if they had been able to hear the faint whispers.

Do you think they’re actually on Malfoy’s side?

Not a chance. It’s something else that’s eating them.

“What do you think it is though?”

“Certainly not a betrothal, it’s the wrong kind of worry.”

“She said his sister was sick…”

No. Either she’s basically dead or it’s not that either.

Think they’ll tell us?

Depends on what it is and how strong and alliance this is.

Fair enough.

“Could he maybe help with this?”

“Wouldn’t put it past him. No guarantees he can, but I won’t be surprised if he can.”

“I understand. I’ll see what I can do.” Tracey pulled out her wand, flicking it in a fast but deliberate pattern as she looked at Alison and Theo before she replaced her wand, a glowing sequence of letters and numbers appearing before her.

“Well, something’s off, I’m not sure what, but they’re super stressed out. I’m not sure what, and the spell isn’t telling me anything, which means…”

“Which means it’s been there for a long time, whatever it is.”

“That and… and it involves deep-seated hatred or other negative emotion.”

“Promising.”

The remainder of the trip was tense as the two pairs pondered their situations and the possible repercussions. Theo and Alison considered again the enormity of their goals and the many obstacles in their path. Daphne and Tracey worried over the many people’s they would have to meet and interact with and how they would end, the situations they felt unprepared to face despite being trained for years. It was a welcome disruption then when the train came to a screeching stop and sent them tumbling into each other in a painful jumble.

“I thought this thing was supposed to have magical brakes.”

“It does. Just doesn’t seem to have magical brakes for the people on board.”

“Muggles figured it out already. They call it Inertia or something. Things that are moving, like the train and everyone and everything on it, try to keep moving unless made to do otherwise. We try to keep moving at the same speed as the train used to be going when the train brakes because unlike the train, we don’t have brakes.” Daphne managed to squeak despite being crushed between Tracey and Alison.

“Nice to know, can we get untangled first please?” Tracey asked, trying to extract her arms, both of which were pinned under the others. After a few minutes of wriggling, more often than not resulting in accidents that will not be written, the quartet managed to untangle themselves, pointedly ignoring their blushes and even more pointedly not looking at each other as they got down their trunks and started towards the door.

“I bet Steelthorn’s group didn’t have any problems at all.” Tracey said, a slightly bitter edge to her tone. Daphne nodded, pointing at the now visible door where the trio in question had been.

“Maybe not no issues at all, but they certainly didn’t have as much of a problem as we did, they’ve already left.” The quartet left the train and moved towards where Hagrid was yelling loudly, instructing the first years to come a different path from the rest of the students. Trunks were magicked away as they walked for the house elves to store until their sorting, when they would be put in each student’s dorm room.

* * *

"The bit about the luggage wouldn’t be noteworthy but we put it in because I’m absolutely certain that Steelthorn forgot to mention this."

"She’s only saying that because she’s got a bet going with Hermione and Alison that He did, ten galleons each to her if Steelthorn forgot."

"They do realize that’s not even pocket change, right?"

"The quill is still on Dictation Theo."

"#@%$."

"My thoughts exactly."

* * *

The walk down the path became a strange game of sorts, where Draco attempted to get to Daphne and Tracey, who, with Theo and Alison, attempted to find Steelthorn, Silver, and Harry, who in turn had vanished into the crowd. All of this was done while trying to avoid disrupting the other students as they moved down the path.

As they reached the bottom of the path they quickly climbed into a boat, filling it between the four of them to avoid being bothered by anyone else. A few boats down Steelthorn climbed aboard a boat alone, watching the crowd of people as they all climbed into a boat. Draco and his goons climbed into Steelthorn’s boat.

“Well. looks like The first move is Draco’s. Now we just have to see who wins the trick.” Daphne commented, pointing out the boat of interest. Behind her, Alison and Theo leaned in close to each other, whispering quietly.

“I hope this is enough to determine if he’s going to be a useful ally. We don’t have enough time otherwise. They’re getting ready to make their move, they might even do it before school ends.”

“I understand, Theo. Our parents already went over this many times. Perhaps too many. Now we are growing more worried than we ought to be.”

“There! See look, they’re getting ready to move!” Alison and Theo shifted, focusing fully on the boat they were tracking. A faint flicker of motion—or was that a ripple in the water and a flash of reflected light? Then Crabbe and Goyle rose up.

“OI! Who’s standing up in their boats?” Hagrid roared. The boats stopped slowly, with the exception of Steelthorn’s, which froze instantly. A wave lapped against the boat and Crabbe and Goyle toppled over, falling into the lake without any sign that it hadn’t just been the sudden stop.

“Did he do that or was that just them being clumsy oafs?” Alison asked. Daphne shrugged.

“I imagine so, but for all I know it was just them. So honestly, your guess is as good as mine.” Daphne said airily, moving back to a sitting position as Hagrid dropped Crabbe and Goyle unceremoniously on the boat and the boats started off again.

“That was… unhelpful. I was hoping to see something that would absolutely be him acting, not something that had a chance of not being an accident.” Theo stated, disappointment obvious.

“Then look elsewhere. He puts not being caught above just about everything. If there hadn’t been any way for him to get away with it then we might have seen something like that, but something like this? We’ve got no chance of seeing it.” Daphne said impassively as she listened to the quiet sounds of the water against the boat. There was something soothing about it, helping her calm down and prepare for the stress that was bound to occur during the next few weeks before things normalized. Mentally she made a note to get a small fountain or the like to aid in meditation when she was stressed.

“We’ll be able ter see the castle in a bit.” Hagrid called out as the boats continued on their way, uninterrupted by further antics. As the boats came around a curve the Castle came into view. A sharp intake of breath rose from the assembled students. The grand castle rose up from the mountains and cliffs around it, light shining from every window, like a beacon of civilization and a fortress against the encroaching wildlands that surrounded it.

“It’s… I’m not sure what to call it.” Daphne breathed.

“Intimidating, but it’s also welcoming, the way I imagine walking into your own castle would feel.” Alison whispered. Around them equally quiet conversations were carried out, as though the entirety of the first year student body were afraid to speak to loudly for fear of awakening the sleeping giant of a castle. Indeed, a few whispered that the castle itself was alive, a powerful construct of magic and stone, rather than an actual building.

“Look, Steelthorn hasn’t even moved. It’s like he doesn’t care to look at the castle itself because it’s beneath his notice.” Theo said, gesturing towards Steelthorn. Indeed, he seemed to have become as much a part of the boat as the wood, distinguishable only by the faint bits of color that were revealed in the moonlight as he lounged against the bow of the small boat.

“Is that… is his hair naturally that way?” Alison asked, noticing the motes of silver that danced and flashed in the wind around his head.

“I don’t really know. I think so, but I’ve never seen hair like that even in magical creatures. He used to use a hat or scarf to cover it, but it looks like he stopped.”

“I think… I think I remember seeing a reference to silver hair in one of our libraries, but…” Tracey trailed off, looking a bit sheepish.

“But?” Daphne prompted curiously.

“But it was in the book of impossible rituals, and I might be remembering it wrong.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Book of impossible rituals?” Theo asked curiously.

“In the House Davis library there’s a book with an illegible title containing several dozen rituals and detailed instructions on every aspect of them. The issue is that they all require things or situations that are impossible, for example one of them requires that you do it at noon when the moon is full and the sky is in darkness but for the moons light. Even an eclipse won’t work for that, because then the moon isn’t providing light.” Tracey informed him, shifting to sit more comfortably in the boat.

“I see. There’s a similar book in the Rosier library, marked with a circle of silver flowers with red and black in the center of each flower.” Alison said, running one finger over the veins in her other hand nervously. Sharing the contents of your house library with somebody else was usually a highly penalized offense, so should word of that reach the rest of her house the punishment would be swift despite that she hadn’t given anything away. As usual, Tracey was exempt as she was technically head of her own house.

“Wait, does it have a lily on the top and a wild rose on the bottom of the circle?” Tracey asked, sitting upright suddenly. Alison nodded tentatively.

“Yes, it does, how—”

“It might be the same one then!” Tracey exclaimed before realizing she was supposed to be being quiet. She quickly looked around, embarrassed. However, nobody seemed to have heard, or at least understood what she meant. Despite this she withdrew slightly, pulling her head between her shoulders slightly for a moment.

“It might be, is there anything else you remember about it? I remember that most of my books pages were in strange runes that nobody in my family has ever seen before. Some of the oldest portraits insist they’ve seen something similar before, but they don’t remember what.” Alison shrugged helplessly. Now that they’d started talking about it, she seemed considerably more at ease with the idea, though she was still tense.

“Yes, I think it really is the same book! I remember most of them are runes or henscratch or something, but every now and again there’s a page that I can understand, like the one I mentioned about silver hair.” Tracey whispered excitedly. Alison nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps you should come to visit during one of our breaks. Bring the book and we can compare the two.” Alison said calmly, ignoring Tracey’s guarded look.

“Bring the book to your manor? I might not be of the most powerful house, but I’m no idiot Alison.” Tracey said flatly. Alison shrugged easily.

“Then I suppose we just won’t ever know will we?” She replied. Daphne curled her lip in a slight smile.

“Oh, now I don’t know about that.” She whispered, to quietly for the others to hear.

The boats bumped against a stoney bank, prompting them to climb out of their boat and start towards the stairs until a pained wail broke over the crowd.

“My toad’s gone!”

“Ugh! I hate toads.” Alison hissed, shivering slightly. Tracey nodded in agreement, looking carefully around her feet. Theo looked torn, a look Daphne recognized. On the one hand, he wanted to go help look for the toad, on the other, he should probably stay with Alison. She shrugged and walked off, looking around for the toad as she walked, forcing herself back into the mentality of the street, where a toad was considerably less nasty than half the things she found surrounding her when she woke up. A ways down the boats she found Draco, who was perched on a boat, looking fearfully around him as though the toad were some sort of attacking monster. Steelthorn was standing nearby, a playful smile on his face before he threw a rock at the ground. A second later Crabbe and Goyle picked up larger stones and hurled them at him. Steelthorn of course, ignored them, letting them fly past him as he leaned over and picked up a significantly smaller rock and flicked it at hagrid with a skillful flick, getting his attention easily before ducking down and pretending to look for the toad. Hagrid, seeing Crabbe and Goyle about to crush Steelthorn with a pair of large rocks called them out on it. Daphne smirked, scooping up the small toad that had hopped onto her shoe and returned to Hagrid to have it returned to its owner.

“Ah, there he is, here ya go, there’s yer toad. FOUND HIM! Everyone come this way now.” Hagrid yelled, handing the toad to a boy standing near him before he started up a path that led towards the base of the castle. Daphne slipped back into the crowd and rejoined the other three, smiling slightly.

“Steelthorn’s still Steelthorn. In case anyone cares, Silver and Harry are following us.” She reported to them, completely ignoring their strange looks. At the end of the path Professor McGonagall took over for Hagrid and led them to a large room to wait for the sorting. Most of the nobles gathered together, leaving the muggleborns and half-bloods to gather together around the rest of the room. Steelthorn had somehow vanished, though Daphne was fairly sure he was behind one of the statues in the corners, the only places to hide in the entire room that was otherwise bare.

“Apparently Draco was… offering Steelthorn his support when Steelthorn attacked him, and threw both Crabbe and Goyle into the lake.” Tracey informed Daphne, causing her to laugh inwardly at Draco’s cover story. It seemed to be working though, since most of the Nobles were now expressing disgust with ‘that silver-haired freak’ and other such terms.

“Any idea where Steelthorn is?”

“He’ll have been the first in. somewhere in the corners probably. Ah, there’s Silver and Harry now. They’ll probably go find him eventually.” Daphne pointed to where Silver and Harry were wandering the room, checking the corners. They stopped by the back left corner, talking between the themselves before vanishing behind the statue as well. A moment passed, during which time the four of them pretended to agree with Draco’s opinions and ideas and so forth. Then a spray of golden sparks flew out from behind the statue, causing a few heads to turn for a bit. Then they returned to what they’d been doing until the ghosts appeared. Shortly thereafter Mcgonagall appeared in the door again.

“Come along all of you, your sorting will begin shortly.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorting and duels. my two least favorite things about all the wizarding world. First they complain about the lack of unity and cohesion, then they split their children into groups and foster hatred and competition. Just me or is it then even more stupid when members of the group that gets the most hate turn evil?  
> Steelthorn...  
> Yes Daphne, I know that the other houses have produced evil wizards as well. That's not the point! also, the dictation quill is still on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts, underlining is thieves signal (I did explain that last chapter right?) and I probably made mistakes somewhere that I missed. Pointing them out so I can fix them would be appreciated.  
> And yes, Steelthorn does have conversations in his head.

We slipped along, lining up at the back, behind everyone else, making absolutely certain nobody else was in the room before following.

“Why’d you take the extra time to check the room?”

“Because if we’re at the back, then nobody can sneak up on us without us hearing their footsteps, and you never want a possible enemy behind you Sparky.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me… Silver.”

In the Great Hall we were shown a rather strange hat which sang a song that, while the lyrics were understandable as a description of the hat and the four houses, made me fairly sure the hat was tone deaf, soaring straight from notes so high they barely seemed to be there at all to deep baritones that vibrated the floor. At the end, I decided that I did not like the headmaster, who was laughing heartily at everyone else’s discomfort.

“The Headmaster seems to be a bit on the sociopathic side. I don’t like him.” I whispered quietly.

“It’s good to know you kept reading after I left, Steelthorn.” Hermione teased, nodding in agreement.

“I don’t think I like him much either. Aunt Petunia says he’s the one who left me with the family I’m with now.”

“When I read your name, come here to be sorted.” I made a mock salute and whispered quietly.

“Yes Ma’am, sir! At once! Oof!” I rubbed my side where Hermione had elbowed me.

“Shut up Steelthorn.” I reached out and plucked a single hair from Hermione’s head, causing her to glare at me.

“You started it this time.” I said, giving her an innocent look. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the sorting, which was moving on from ‘Abbott, Hannah’. Names were called, people went up and were sorted, then the next name was called. Some took longer than others. The first name that stood out to me was that of ‘Davis, Tracey’ as she was the brunette from the train. Tracey was sorted into Slytherin to loud applause from that table though, as I was starting to notice, those sorted into Slytherin were given a less enthusiastic applause from the other houses. I liked that most of the Slytherins did not reciprocate the lack of interest and applauded wholeheartedly whenever anyone was sorted, no matter the house.

“Granger, Hermione!” When McGonagall called her name Hermione walked quietly up to the stool where the hat stood and placed it on her head. After a long, quiet moment the sorting hat made it’s decision.

“GRYFFINDOR!” Came the loud cry as Hermione slipped the hat off her head and placed it on the table, seating herself on the gryffindor table and watching the rest of the sorting closely.

“Greengrass, Daphne!” The blond haired girl from the train went up and placed the hat on her head, seating herself primly on the stool. I immediately saw why Hermione had thought her to be Winter, though the differences were also quite apparent. Winter had never had the air of aloofness and disinterest that Daphne carried about her, for one. After she was sorted into Slytherin, I started tracking the remaining students carefully, watching where the other two from Daphne’s group were as she sat next to Tracey, the others at the table having made a space for her there. A few more names were called.

“Nott, Theodore!” The boy from Daphne’s group strode forward confidently and placed the hat on his head as he seated himself. A moment of silence as the entire school waited and then…

“SLYTHERIN!” The boy removed the hat, setting it neatly on the stool, and sat down at his house table. A few more names were called before it was Harry’s turn.

“Potter, Harry!” The silence in the Great Hall was absolute for a moment before whispers started circulating the tables.

“THE Harry Potter? Who stopped You-Know-Who?”

“I didn’t realize I’d be in the same year as him!”

“Does anybody know where He’s been all these years?”

It was about this time that I realized just how long the hat was taking to sort Harry. More whispers circulated the tables, but I was suddenly more interested in what was taking so long. A few more seconds passed as silence finally descended upon the hall and the entire school waited with baited breath before the hat roared it’s choice.

“GYFFINDOR!” I frowned slightly, deciding I’d have to ask ‘Sparky’ about why it took so long later as I covered my ears to prevent myself from going deaf from the thunderous applause. A pair of redheads were chanting the words ‘we got Potter’ loudly enough to be heard clearly over the applause. More sorting, students sent to every house, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, they all were applauded as they went to their seats. Then was the final member of Daphne’s group.

“Rosier, Alison!” The girl glided forward with a quiet poise that seemed out of place in a room that had been so loud seconds before. That same grace and poise were still shown as she picked up the hat and placed it delicately on her head, sitting down and waiting, almost completely motionless.

_She’s good._

_I know. She’s really good. I’d want to see her with a knife and a few months training._

_It would be something, certainly, though I’m not sure that her grace would apply equally to fighting. It takes a different kind of mindset._

“Thorn, Steele!” I walked up to the stool and flicked the hat up onto my head, standing perfectly still as it flipped once at the peak of its arc and landed neatly on my head.

“Hmm. Courage, yes, though not as prominent… Intelligence, yes, but not quite the same desire to learn as a Ravenclaw… Loyal, yes certainly loyal, but not to just anyone either, that’s good, blind loyalty has been the downfall of many a wizard, and an odd type as well… Cunning and guile, Most certainly. Hmm, quite well rounded, I must say. I’m afraid you won’t fit in any of the houses very well, unlike most, but Life isn’t always fair is it?”

_Can you read what I’m thinking or just my personality?_

“Hmm, oh my, two in the same year, how fascinating. Yes, I can read your thoughts as well, though few ever try and speak with me. The Potter boy did, said he didn’t want to be in Slytherin.”

_I see. Can you tell me anything about the others or would that be a breach of contract. Or whatever the equivalent is for a magical talking hat that wasn’t given the ability to carry a tune._

“I’m well aware I can’t sing, and while it’s not my fault that I’m not allowed to simply say the words, I can’t fault you for disliking it. I don’t like my singing voice even! However, I can tell you a little bit about them, not a lot, but some. So who first?”

_Not that I care who, but I’d like to know more about Harry, Hermione, Draco, Daphne, Alison, Theodore and Tracey._

“Friends and enemies already hm? Well, I suppose that since most of them are Purebloods I can tell you what’s common knowledge about them. Alison Rosier is the only surviving child of the noble house of Rosier, her older brother died in the war, as did her mother. She and Theodore are betrothed as well. Daphne Greengrass is the next heir to the noble house of Greengrass, it’s not quite as well known, but shortly after he betrothed died she disappeared for a few years. Draco Malfoy is the only heir to the most noble house of Malfoy, a misplaced term if ever I heard one, the whole family is rotten, but they can’t be caught because Lucius is too politically powerful. He is also betrothed to Astoria Greengrass, Daphne’s younger sister. Harry Potter was sent to live with his mother’s sister and her family for the last ten years, though only Dumbledore knew that until I saw it in Harry’s mind… Don’t tell anyone I told you that.”

_I won’t_

“Thank you. Hermione Granger… well you know everything about her that I can share without permission and a bit more after that. Theodore is Heir to the most noble house of Nott, though his family managed to avoid casualties during the war by staying neutral. The house of Davis however… Well Tracey is the only living member of it, and her family would have been disowned if it wasn’t for the fact that her head of house was killed in the war before she could do so. Her father died in the aftermath of the war while hunting down the last of the Death eaters. Samuel Greengrass took her in as a ward of House Greengrass and she has been there ever since. She still carries the scars of the sorrow caused by losing her adopted sister for a few years. The last two things you should know is that Alison and Theo are both fairly good people, but until they inherit their houses and finalize their marriage contract, they can’t face Malfoy, so they act. But once that happens they will be strong enough to do so. Daphne and Tracey have gained a reputation for spotting opportunities and useful assets or allies. Together they would likely form the most powerful group in your year. If they could find an ally who was effective enough to bring their plans to fruition sooner...”

_I see. My thanks Sorter. Would you find it offensive if I were to attempt to speak with you again later?_

“Not at all. It’s quite boring during the rest of the year after all. I don’t really get to do anything.”

_I will attempt to speak with you again then. Why is everyone staring at me? I forgot what we’re doing here…_

“Oh, yes, that. Right. Well, given what you asked to know, I’ll have to say… SLYTHERIN!” I gently picked the hat up and set it down on the stool, striding quickly to the green and silver decorated table and found a seat that was within earshot of Daphne’s group as well as Draco’s group. Each seemed to have formed their own core groups and I decided I was going to have to keep track of them both.

_I should have asked the sorting hat about Draco’s goons. I’ll ask next time we talk._

_I’m going to point out that despite Alison and Theodore having the power in that group, Daphne is the current leader or at least the one directing them._

_Power behind the throne type is she? Yes, we’ll have a lot of people to keep track of._

Of the two seated next to me, there was an older student who was engrossed in a conversation with his girlfriend who was sitting next to him, and the other, a shifty looking boy a bit larger than I was, who wasn’t speaking to anyone. Once the sorting was over he leaned over in a way I assumed he thought to be menacing. I wondered if he knew how many places I could hit and kill him with without moving anything other than my wrist, since I was currently holding my knife close enough to him for it to be employed almost instantly.

“We don’t like Mudbloods here. So the hat might have put you here, but you’re not a Slytherin.” I snorted slightly.

“Of course not, I’d need to know what a Slytherin was first besides an arbitrary division in the school.” I smiled without mirth, showing all my teeth.

“If you want to cause trouble for me though, I’d be more than happy to show you how I deal with my problems.” I said darkly. He moved back slightly as I helped myself to several dishes of food that had appeared on the table, deciding to pay a visit to the third floor corridor as soon as I could to see why a painful death was waiting for anyone who ventured within it.

“Figures that a Mudblood like you wouldn’t even know what a house is.” He said as he turned away. I smirked at his back for a second before bringing my face back to the spacey cheer that I used to shield my true feelings.

_I imagine that being able to hide our emotions will be useful as time passes._

_Of course it will. Don’t eat too much, You never know what might happen._ I set my fork down and leaned back slightly, looking at where Granger sat. after a bit she glanced back and I sent her a message via a sequence of signs and gestures with my hands.

Third floor this saturday? 

Where else? 

There’s a pretty big library here from what I’ve heard. 

That’s cruel. 

Library each afternoon or evening starting tomorrow, and corridor this Saturday? 

Sure. 

You might be interested to know that the three of us have attracted some attention. Five of the Slytherins in particular. I’ll fill you in later. 

The boy next to me poked at my side, staring at his hand as I clenched it tightly in mine, locking it painfully in place.

“Yes, annoyance?” I hissed quietly so only he could hear.

“What were you doing, mudblood?” He asked, his tone less confident then it had been moments before. I assumed it was on account of having his wrist locked into such a painful position. My face had suddenly morphed from spacey, inattentive joy to hard ice in an instant as I glared at him.

“Don’t you wish you knew. Besides, I thought I wasn’t a Slytherin. So why should I tell you?” I hissed quietly, the venomous tone nearly a physical substance. He grumbled a bit then tried to pull his hand away from my, stopping when I didn’t let go.

“What?” He growled. It sounded weak to me, but most people sounded weaker when they weren’t in control of a situation. That alone was enough of a reason for me to never let anyone be in control of the situation more than I was.

“I’m trying to decide if I should try and convince you not to do that again, or keep you from doing that ever again.” I squeezed a little tighter and twisted the joint,  bordering on shattering the joint before I let go, allowing a tiny vicious smile to flicker across my face before it reverted to the normal spacey smile that it usually showed.  Once dessert was over we lined up with me taking the back, and we slipped out, walking down, being led by a boy who called himself a Prefect to the dungeons, and finally to a seemingly empty section of a hallway in the dungeons. At the end of the hall The Prefect announced the password to be ‘Snake blood’ upon which the wall opened up, revealing a large door decorated with snakes. The prefect reached out to one of the Snake carvings, seemingly at random, and pulled it down. The door swung open quickly, revealing a large room that made me think of underwater shipwrecks and mystical shrines hidden beneath the sea. Shortly after entering Professor Snape strode in calmly, leading to everyone’s silence as we waited for what he was about to say.

“Here in Slytherin house, we have several rules that are to be followed no matter what. The first, and most important, is not to get caught. The second is that no matter what happens within the house, it must never be seen by any of the other houses. That will be all. You will find your lesson schedule on your bed. The password changes weekly, and the snake lever required to open the door changes twice a week. I would recommend you check the boards on the wall next to the door before you leave so you don’t get locked out.” Snape turned and walked off, opening a door in what had been a wall and walked out. The Prefect dismissed the older years, keeping back the Prefects and first years.

“All of you first years, I am Septimus Harding, this is John Newton, That over there is Isabella Smith, and that is Zoe Garcia.  We are your prefects. If you have any questions direct them to one of us, unless Professor Snape is visiting the dorms or common room. He does that about once a week, and during that time any questions you have you can ask him directly. The second thing is that while Snape did say that despite anything that happens in here we must maintain a united front in the rest of the school, we haven’t had many reasons for that in years. If for some reason you do feel the need to fight, you can do it in the dueling arena over there. It also doubles as a practice arena, and creates practice dummies that can simulate most scenarios if you just tell it what to do. The boys dorms are that way, the girls dorms are that way. Any questions for now?” Nobody answered, so he nodded and turned away, moving down the hall towards the boys dormitory. Malfoy narrowed his eyes then turned to me, wand out.

“I say we duel, Mudblood.” I raised one eyebrow at Malfoy and shrugged.

“I doubt you’ll like how it turns out, but as you will.” the two of us walked to the dueling arena and took up positions across from each other. Most of the first years were following behind us as were the other three prefects. Malfoy smirked and flicked his wand at me.

_The trick here is keeping our talents hidden while still beating him. So we need that rune and that one… and that’ll do to beat him. Now we just need an opening._

“Flipendo!” a streak of blue light shot forward and hit me, sending me flying backwards.

 _Well that works for us._  I flipped backwards during the flight, drawing a blade and scraping it back and forth across the ground, cutting runes in the floor as I flew before I landed crouched on my feet. I slipped the knife back in my sleeves and readied my wand, though I kept it hidden as I watched Draco’s movements.Draco laughed as he advanced towards me.

_He’s never been in a real fight before. I look forward to seeing just how much this hurts._

_As do I brother._

“Thought you said I wouldn’t like how this turned out?” He flicked his wand again, sending a sickly yellow flash of light towards me. I rose, leaping into the air as my wand sipped out and deflected the spell into the runes I had carved, lighting them up all the way from where my hand rested to where I had been standing, where Draco stood right now. I closed my eyes tightly as a bright yellow flash erupted from the runes. When the light cleared Draco was lying on the ground, a faint yellow line wrapped about him that pulsed every so often. I shrugged and dispelled the runes. Nobody would know what had happened. I had double checked that the rune sequence that saw to that was properly activated before I had let them all activate.

“I did say that. I wasn’t wrong.” I said quietly, walking out of the arena and moving down the halls to my dorm after. In my room I picked a bed and started carving runes into the bedposts. Once I had finished those I climbed under the bed and inscribed more runes there, where nobody could see them and activated them before rolling out from under the bed and putting my bag under the bed, keeping my knives and wand on me as I lay down. On the bed itself was a sheet of paper which after scanning it once I determined that it was my schedule. Tomorrow I had double potions, whatever that meant, with Gryffindor.

I set the parchment containing my schedule in my bag and sat down on my bed, deciding whether I would be sleeping on the bed or on the floor. The door opened with a quiet squeak and admitted Snape. I rose again, nodding to Snape in greeting.

“Professor. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I was hoping you could help me answer a few questions.” I raised one eyebrow questioningly.

“I assume you are talking about the mess in the dueling arena?” He nodded slowly.

“Imagine my surprise when I returned to the Common room and found Malfoy unconscious and wrapped in magical bindings and not one student could tell me exactly what happened. I was told he challenged somebody to a duel, but not who, and nobody seems to know.” I shrugged in response.

“Well since Malfoy seems to have taken a dislike to me on account of my probably being a mudblood, we went and decided to try settling it in the dueling arena, since that seemed a good place to decide such things to him and I dislike him enough I wasn’t about to turn down a chance to cause him general pain. Prefect Harding gave a pretty nice orientation speech though, I’ll have to thank him for that.” I reached out and activated each of the runic sequences on my bedposts, smiling as they all ignited with a faint glow, indicating that they were all active. Snape eyed them with interest, which only grew when I crawled under the bed and activated the runic sequence used to hide the others. He reached out and paused, patting his hand against the invisible barrier generated by my runes.

“I must inquire as to where you learned runes. Your mastery of them is… extensive. First sight deflecting runes, then fire conjuring, now protective runes. I wonder… what else can you do with them?” I raised one eyebrow at him.

“So you were the one following me that day. You’ve broken your own rule then Professor, I caught you following me and set that trap specifically for you, and now you’ve confirmed that it was indeed you, instead of just somebody else who reported it to you.” Snape smiled proudly at me.

“I can tell you are going to be a very special one of my snakes already.” He stated as I slipped my bag under my bed.

“I will admit that experimenting with spell deflection probably wasn’t the wisest course of action, but not knowing enough spells to carry on a proper magical duel left me few other options, since I’d rather not kill him unless I have a better reason than that Malfoy is a pain.” I said offhandedly as I opened one of my schoolbooks and started reading. It happened to be my Defence against the dark arts book, which I decided would be useful for next time Malfoy tried something.

“I see. I shall have to ask Malfoy why he thought it wise to attack you before even having a proper introduction. If ever you feel the need, do not hesitate to ask for help with anything. I’m sure that you will find many of the older Slytherins much less annoying than the ones in your year. It seems you have had the misfortune of being the only Muggle born in this year, and nearly all of the purebloods in this year are either prejudiced or unwilling to act otherwise on account of Draco’s presence. The Malfoy’s present a unique problem you see.” His tone was almost apologetic at points, something I found refreshing after Draco’s brash hatred and Harding’s emotionless announcement.

“If I really come to have a problem with Malfoy, you’ll know because he’s being carried out in a hearse.” I replied in a tone both icy and spacey, as I scribbled down a few notes on passages from my book.

“I’d prefer if you came to me first, however, if by that you mean that you will only consider him a problem if all other means have been exhausted, then I will be willing to stand behind your choice. Just remember to come to me first to make sure that there are, in fact, no other options.” I looked up from my book, staring intently into Snape's eyes. The look was disconcerting to everyone I’d met, and Snape was no exception, though he took it better than most, only losing his composure for a fraction of a second before regaining it.

“Professor, I’ll tell you two things right now. One: this dispute isn’t going to stay in-house, but I won’t be the reason when it does leave. Two: when he leaves this school in a hearse, there won’t be a student in this school who can say it was a surprise. Not even the first years.” I said lowly. Snape sighed and nodded.

“I expect that I’ll have some time to try and convince him to let go of this dispute then. Are there any questions you have before I go?”

“First, what’s a double class. Second, if you don’t tell anyone who doesn’t already know about my… talents, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thirdly, is there a map of this place anywhere? I imagine it’ll be useful to me since my yearmates seem to be in two groups regarding me. They either hate me because Draco said to, or they want to use me for whatever skills I might provide them. I doubt I need to explain further why I don’t intend to ask them?” Snape chuckled, shaking his head.

“A special Snake indeed. The maps will be on the message boards tomorrow morning. A double class is just a class that takes twice as long. I don’t often like my first class to be a double class because I have to put up with twice as many mistakes by the same people before they learn anything, but certain things have come up which make it impossible to do otherwise. As for not telling anyone else, the staff already know, though most did not believe me. I have not told anyone else however, and will inform them that you would prefer that it not spread beyond them. Dumbledore does not yet know, and I presume you would like it to stay that way.” I nodded thankfully.

“Thank you professor.” He smiled and left, muttering about Draco’s idiocy. I smiled as he closed the door. I liked Snape.


	7. Day one, Part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My first day, part of it anyway. Classes interspersed with explosions and other strange occurrences make for an interesting day, assuming you ignore History of Magic (what a bore that class was)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts, constructive criticism is appreciated, and hopefully you all enjoy the story.

* * *

 

 

I slipped from under the bed after disabling the runes, noting how much punishment the wards had taken with a grimace.

 _Guess I was more tired than I thought. I should never have slept through an assault like that._ I decided to add a few inactive runes under the bed, which would project an image of me onto the bed, rather than just using awkwardly arranged blankets and sheets beneath the blanket.

_I wonder if there is a way to activate runes from a distance._

_Probably, our wand just channels magic, same way we channel it into our runes when we touch them, so I see no reason that we can’t power our runes remotely with our wand. Or without it, it should just be the opposite of deactivating runes remotely, right?_

_True. Let’s get started._

_We should look into ways to put temporary or permanent runes on people. Might be useful._

_I assume tattoos are out, since they’d be too obvious._ I walked to the arena, which had the bonus of dispelling all magical effects within it after the occupants left and started working on remotely activating runes. It was six o’clock before I figured it out, but the runes I was practicing on activated easily and reliably once I figured it out. I smiled and stomped out the fires on the stones, unsure if the arena’s enchantments would affect them, and smiled widely before dispelling the runes and going down the doors, trying find Draco’s room. He was at the far end from me, and it took no time at all to carve the sequences to seal the door, tell me when somebody tried to open the door, hide the runes from detection, and remove all trace of them when I was finished. I peeked back into my room to see who my roommates were, noting them for next time I spoke with the hat as well as for general observation.

_Theodore, Blaise, Nicolas. Nicolas is an unknown, a halfblood with no history. Absolutely watching him. Blaise should be mostly safe, he’s from Italy so Draco’s clout should be lessened for him. Not sure why he’s not in another school, there has to be one closer to Italy doesn’t there? Theo… well he was already on my list of people to watch. I wonder if any of them participated in the attack last night. Or if they’re even aware that it happened._

_At this rate we’ll be watching the entire school._

_Not a bad idea… hmm. If this multiple voices things is going to be constant instead of just temporary, we should really have different names._

_First, GRAAAH! Why did I have to suggest we watch the entire school? Second, names are easy. One of us is Steel and the other is Thorn. No, you’re Steel and I’m Thorn. That makes it easy, no arguing over names you see._

_Works for me. And I don’t mean we’ll actually track the entire school, but minimum our year and house. More if we can manage it._

_Fine..._

In the common room I checked the clock and the announcement boards on the walls, noting the next password-lock combination, which was due to change in three days.

_Shouldn’t there be a few you know, I think the security here is awful. Bet you anything we can get into any other house dorm if we investigated a bit._

_Figure out where the doors are and poof! We’ve got a way in after a week or so._

_I’m going to attach some extra security features as soon as I figure out how to do it. Maybe ask the castle? The book did say that Hogwarts is thought to be sentient by some._

_Worst case scenario we look strange I suppose._

_My point exactly. Not now though, I’m too hungry._

I grabbed a copy of the map as I walked out, trying to memorize the entire convoluted thing. Eventually I decided that Hogwarts had to have been built to confuse anyone inside as to how the paths worked, not counting the moving staircases, and that the maps were meant to complicate things even further. I torched the thing as I tossed it into a trash bin on… I was fairly sure I was the first floor, but I really had no clue.

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help me out, would you Hogwarts? I know I haven’t been here for long, but could you maybe provide directions? Assuming it’s not too much to ask, of course.” I didn’t stop walking as I spoke, moving backwards along the path we’d taken to the common room from the Great Hall as best I could recall. As I reached a corner that I didn’t recall having seen before I noticed that one of the suits of armor was pointing back the way I’d come, which was all the more noticeable because all the rest of the suits were standing with both hands on the pommels of their swords.

I thanked the castle and turned back the way I’d come, following similar clues around the castle until I reached the Great Hall. A candelabra down one hallway gesturing towards me, a cabinet that suddenly opened one of its doors as I reached a T intersection, a moving staircase who’s banisters warped into a form resembling an arrow, classroom doors that opened and closed as I approached. As I passed each one I thanked the castle again until I reached the doors of the Great Hall. I paused outside and looked back over the halls that led away from the door and smiled.

“I suppose most students just ask the paintings, rather than you. Their loss. Thank you once again Hogwarts. I imagine I’ll have to ask for your help again soon. If ever there’s something I can do, I’ll try and help, though I’m no great wizard or anything.” I bowed slightly to the empty hallway and stepped through the doors, closing them gently behind me. A glance around told me I was currently the only person in the room besides Professor Sinistra, who looked as though she were about to fall asleep.

The alarm rune on Draco’s door triggered and I activated the sealing sequence and recharged the alarm sequence, locking them in as I started toward Professor Sinistra, trying to remember why I knew her name until I remembered that there had been a bit where the Professors were introduced over dinner the night before. I decided to go see what I could get from picking her brain.

“Professor, is there a particular reason you’re so tired or are you just not a morning person?” I wasn’t sure I’d quite remembered the nuances of working with people, but she seemed tired enough to have overlooked just about anything short of physical violence.

“Hmm? Oh, hello. I usually sleep all day and work all night, but it’s the start of the new school year so I thought I should at least try and be present for…” She yawned before continuing. “For breakfast of the first day or two.” She smiled tiredly at me. It was a nice smile, the type you got when a nice person wasn’t sure if they were awake or asleep. The alarm rune on Draco’s door sounded in my mind and I sealed the door closed again, noting the slightly increased drain on my magic.

 _Probably got his cronies pushing on it now._ I gave Professor Sinistra a proper smile, rather than the spacey smile I used around most people. I wasn’t sure why, but I got the feeling she would be a better ally than an enemy, unlike some of the other professors.

“Is that something you try and do every year or just sometimes? Because it doesn’t seem to agree with you.” I told her as she yawned again and tried to take a bite out of her teacup.

“No, I usually don’t, but I try and be present for at least three breakfasts for each year, just not always the first few.” She said, trading the teacup for a bit of meat.

“I feel like you have a reason for being here these first two days then if you usually don’t pick the first day as the days you show up for breakfast.”

“You’re probably right, now if only I could remember what…” She trailed off as I turned to look towards the front door, which I thought I’d heard open. It hadn’t so I turned back to face her. I cocked my head, staring for a second at the sleeping Professor, then gently lifted her off the plate, moved the teacup a bit more to the side, and looked around for something a bit more comfortable than a plate or the table to set her head on. I was saved from having to find something when Professor McGonagall stepped in, took one look at us and flicked her wand towards us, conjuring a pillow under Professor Sinistra’s head. I set her down gently and looked at Professor Mcgonagall in curiosity.

“Yes, she does usually fall asleep around this time each day. It’s generally unsafe to try and wake her before four thirty in the afternoon, five if you don’t want a ten minute lecture on waking people at a reasonable hour. She’s usually in her room at this time though, so few people notice.” McGonagall sat down at her place to the right of Dumbledore’s chair and started spreading a piece of toast with jam. I turned and walked back to my table, where I started trying to decide what to eat, if anything at all. Eventually I chose to pour myself a small cup of semisolid frozen liquid and took a cautious sip, unsure what to expect. After it hit my tongue I decided I liked it, though I wasn’t sure what exactly it was. It had a fruity flavor, but I was quite sure fruit was not made of small icy crystals, which was what it felt like in my mouth.

Draco’s door started to open again and I sealed it closed, taking a bite from the slice of toast I had grabbed to finish off my breakfast. A bit later the door was opened again and I sealed it closed, recharging the sequences. I repeated this process once more before I triggered the sweeper sequence, removing the runes from the door. At this point I was finished with breakfast and had taken to wandering the Great Hall aimlessly, which had drawn some confused looks at first, but eventually everyone had ignored the strange Slytherin who seemed to be trying to mimic the ghosts, wandering about with a spacey smile and unfocused eyes.

_Let’s see… Daphne and Tracey are sitting next to Nicholas and one of the fourth years… Theo and Alison are sitting next to each other..._

_Probably something to do with being betrothed._

_Probably. They’re not really sitting next to anyone who seems to be problematic, that one… Flint? Was that his name? He seems safe, even a bit hostile toward Draco at times. Certainly seemed happy about Draco’s defeat last night, if memory serves._

_Then there’s Zoe Garcia on the other side of them, she’s a prefect, but also a bit of a wild card. We’ll have to see where that goes, since we don’t know anything about her yet._

_Draco’s still trapped below… should we let him out now?_

_I guess..._

_We do know a bit about Zoe. She and Isabella are friends, neither of them like Septimus, and they’re in the same year._

_… They’re sitting together, same as they were last night, but that doesn’t mean much does it? They were practically ready to rip out Septimus’ throat last night, but after his little speech they kinda just went calm. And how do we know they’re one year off? So far as I’m aware we haven’t asked them Steel._

_There’s hints. Like how neither of them are as tense when they’re talking, or how they keep sending Septimus glares. As for the same year thing. We_ did _look down the girls dorm hall._

_And you somehow figured it out based off that. Congratulations Sherlock. Now tell us normal folk how you do it._

_There’s only the one of you Thorn…_

_And?_

_I figured it out because they both went down the same hallway._

_We saw them walking down the halls?_

_No you dolt! We heard them walking down the halls. It wasn’t exactly easy between Malfoy and the rest of the house, but they both took the same number of steps then turned._

_So they went to one of the two’s dorms then the other went to theirs later._

_Dost my ears deceive me? Did you just use logic?_

_So you admit that you might be wrong there._

_Yes Thorn, I am admitting that I have the basic human fallacy of not always being right._

Hermione and Harry walked in the door alongside several other Gryffindors as I approached the doors. I greeted them cordially, if a bit distractedly. Hermione of course knew what I was up to and wasn’t fooled for a moment.

“Good morning Hermione, Harry, how are your dorms?” I asked them both.

“Morning Steelthorn. They’re pretty nice, red and gold decor, nice and cozy feeling, big fire in the common room. And yours?” Hermione responded as they moved toward the gryffindor table.

“They’re in the dungeons, though they look a bit like an underwater shrine or something.”

“I thought you would love such accommodations.” Hermione teased. I flicked her ear as she sat down.

“I don’t think I said I didn’t. What about you Harry? Anything interesting on your end?”

“Nothing special in my dorms besides a long drop out the windows, although your tie is green and silver and your coat is lined in green now.” Harry told me, turning to start getting breakfast. I looked down at my uniform with mild interest.

“So they are. And yours are red and gold. I wonder how they did that. Besides magic, since that’s hardly a useful answer. Sky blue anyone?” I asked suddenly, pointing at the ceiling, which was indeed a stunning shade of azure. The gryffindors around them snorted at the random comment, dismissing me again as I started towards the doors, swiping a piece of bread from their table as I left, resuming my aimless wandering.

The doors opened and another group of students walked in. As usual the other houses kept a safe distance from the Slytherins, one of which was Malfoy who was in turn flanked by his goons. He gave me a glare which promised some sort of discomfort in future, but he didn’t do anything yet, keeping Snape’s rules in mind.

_For now anyway. We should have slammed the door one more time to push him over the edge._

_Let’s see just how long he manages to keep following them though. We aren’t nearly through yet, are we?_

_No, that we aren’t. And as soon as he forgets…_

_Yes, as soon as he forgets. Now play nice Thorn, he hasn’t forgotten yet._ Professor Sinistra had been woken up at some point over the course of the meal and was now sleepily talking with Professor Sprout as she looked around the room. Several times I noticed her gaze locking one student or another as she looked around. As the time came near for us to be going to classes we all lined up in our houses and walked off to class. I found myself at the end of the Slytherin line, which was almost the beginning of the Gryffindor line. Next to me was Malfoy, who was practically spitting ink.

“I know it was you, and don’t deny it.” He hissed angrily. I met his enraged look with a combination of spacey cheer and confusion. I was quite proud of the spacey part, I’d worked hard on perfecting it, even when I wanted to gut the person I was talking to. Like now, for example.

“I hope I wasn’t an inanimate object, that would require some rather powerful magic I’d just as soon not have used on me.” I told him, deliberately misunderstanding the statement.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that the Gryffindors are right behind us, I would hex you. You locked the doors to my dorm this morning.” He hissed angrily. I sighed, holding my head in one hand.

“I would assume that requires an understanding of magic beyond a few basic spells, seeing as how I was at breakfast this morning, and not locking your door. And I don’t have a good understanding of magic. I’m just a filthy idiot mudblood, remember?” I said slowly, as though speaking to a very young child. He growled, turning a strange shade of pink with red blotches. As he had already noted however, the Gryffindors right behind us made his rage largely impotent. I smiled happily and scampered forward, turning the corner and dropping a pre-prepared paper on the ground as I went, activating it with a carefully concealed motion of my wand, which was supposed to be put away in the halls. The runes pulsed and faded, leaving behind a small scrap of paper.

“I’m sorry for the ashes Hogwarts.” I whispered to the walls as I passed.

_Assuming we did that right, Malfoy’s going to have a fun time trying to pass that._

_I’m more interested to know if we got the proper ratio of magic to physical matter and wrote the transmutation down properly. I’d hate for him to show up after pushing through the weak charge we gave the thing._

_Of course you put that first. Honestly, you egg-heads are all the same. Actually, when did you get so egg-heady?_

_If I had an answer to that would you be asking?_

“What happened to Malfoy?” Came a girl's sharp voice. I snorted, adopting my ‘taunting jester’ attitude, which was only slightly more attentive than my ‘happy space’ attitude.

“Ah! How dare a member of Wizarding blood deign to lower herself so far as to speak to a Mudblood such as myself!” I exclaimed. She gave me a flat look and I rolled my eyes.

“For all I know he spotted a pretty Gryffindor. Or he got trampled by the whole house of Gryffindors. We talked for a bit and then I came and caught up with the rest of our house and year. I admit I doubt it would be a loss if he were to die. Er… do let me know if he does die, I’d need to create a fitting eulogy for an entirely new type of vermin after all.” I ended lightly, skipping farther up the line away from her. She glared at me a bit longer before directing her glare toward the corner, which the Gryffindors were just barely rounding.

“As if I would speak to you again.” she growled quietly. A few seconds later Draco and His goons rounded the corner, moving as quickly as they could through the Gryffindor crowd. I slipped forward a bit more, keeping one eye behind me and one ahead of me. As soon as he reached the back of the line the girl who had asked me about him stepped up, glaring at him and speaking quickly. Draco ignored her, though his goons both plugged their ears. I had to agree with the sentiment from the small bit of her voice I had had to put up with. She sounded like a rainspout that had gravel falling down it instead of rain.

“That was interesting.” I glanced at the girl who had spoken before I decided my next words.

“There’s many things as are interesting things, but some things are more interesting to others on basis of what is most important to them. So what makes which things more important to each person than other things are to them or the same things are to somebody else? Why would one obnoxious pest being angry be more interesting to you than another or even that there are more than one? That’s the thing I’d like to know Lady gr” I said, speaking quickly to make the whole thing more confusing than it already was. I slipped away, only registering afterwards that Daphne’s voice was remarkably similar to Winter’s.

_Perhaps Winter isn’t as dead as we thought._

_Maybe. But how to find out? We can’t exactly walk up to her and say “Hey remember me? We spent a few years living on the streets together.” It would cause more trouble than anything else. And I say you’re jumping to conclusions._

_We’ll just have to wait and see then. Maybe we’ll come up with something later. And if I am jumping to conclusions, you are welcome to say I told you so once we confirm otherwise._ I stepped through the door to the potions classroom and seated myself in the farthest back corner, taking note of who took the other corners. Of course, on account of fate’s decision to make my life absolutely horrible for the day, The person sitting next to me was one Tracy Davis, who seemed to be a close friend of Daphne’s from what I had seen over the past few hours. Snape’s introduction to potions seemed fascinating. Magical poisons? Sleep in a bottle? Those could be useful. My wand of course stayed in my sleeve despite his instructions to put the wands away.

 _Unless that_ **_is_ ** _away for ours. Most everyone else seems to keep theirs in their bag, but why would you keep a weapon there?_

_A good point Thorn, a bag is hardly readily accessible in an emergency, especially bags like those. Even when your wand is on top it’ll take forever to pull it out of the dimensional breach._

_Dimensional what now?_

_Dimensional breach. The thing that makes it so the bags are bigger on the inside then the outside._

_Oh. Okay…_

_You’re hopeless._

We started measuring and preparing ingredients for the potion we were working on today, a cure for boils, and slowly began mixing them together. As we worked, Tracy whispered a few words, which I ignored, knowing full well where this would inevitably end if I did.

“Steelthorn was it? I’m Tracy.” She introduced herself. I didn’t respond, pouring in the crushed nettles as we were supposed to and began stirring them slowly.

“Do you even speak? I don’t think I’ve seen you talk since last night.” She continued as I took a vial of Belladonna extract and three shavings of unicorn horn and stirred them in together, keeping an eye on the rest of the room. Tracy took two sprigs of dittany and swirled them through the potion.

“I know I’m not a muggleborn like you, but not everyone in this house is as obnoxiously obsessed about blood purity as the Malfoys. I’m only a halfblood, for example, and most of the students are alright with that.” She pulled the leaves from the cauldron and I dropped in a single rat tail and two porcupine quills, flipping over a sand glass and pressing the numeral five, letting the potion simmer as I chopped three grumbleworms into neat cubes, weighing them afterward to check the exact weight again.

“Do you ever—” She cut off as I pulled her off her chair and to the floor, ducking behind our cauldron as well Tracey had just started to give me an offended look for interrupting her when one of the other Students potions exploded. Seeing the amount of orange ooze around the room I sighed, slightly annoyed.

“You don’t suppose any of that got in our potion do you?” I asked rhetorically.

“No idea.” She told me, peering cautiously into our cauldron. It hadn’t slipped my notice that Daphne, Harry, Myself, Hermione, and one Nevile Longbottom, who had been working with Weasley, were the only ones who had reacted in time to avoid being splattered by the potion, which was now causing everyone who had been caught in the blast to have patches of neon colored skin. Most notable in my opinion was Weasley himself, who had a patch of yellow skin, one of green, and one of blue.

_Forget we weren’t back with the cutters? We’re not supposed to be playing the hero here._

_I suppose. That or the bit where we think she’s Winter’s adopted sister._

_I did forget that bit didn’t I? Oh well. Good job us! Unless Daphne isn’t Winter. Then we should have left her to get splattered._

_You know, I don’t think I like you._

_I could say the same about you._

“I suppose you skipped stirring it with the sprigs of dittany Weasley. Be more careful next time, and you’ve lost seven points for gryffindor.” Snape shook his head, waving his wand quickly. A moment later the potion splatters were gone.

“This is why I start with something so simple. Because when somebody messes up, it doesn’t cause any major problems. You can go back to your work now everyone. You’ll be starting over Weasley.” Snape grumbled, completely ignoring the brightly colored skin.

“Sir, shouldn’t they get that looked at?” One of the other gryffindors asked, indicating the majority of the class, who had been hit by the potion. Gauging his position I decided that he had avoided being splattered because Weasley had been sitting in the way of the splatters that would have headed towards him. I checked the glass next to the cauldron and scraped in the chopped grumbleworms, glad that none of Weasley's explosive potion had gotten to our potion as far as I could tell. Tracy added three drops of venomous tentacular poison as I turned to check the book and make sure we hadn’t missed anything.

“We just let that simmer for a while and we should be done.” Tracey said, dusting her hands off. The potion abruptly turned bright yellow. I blinked at it for a second before consulting our book.

“Alright, at least it’s supposed to do that. I was going to be worried.” I mused. Upon hearing my words Snape swept over to us and looked into the cauldron.

“Yes, you seem to have managed to create the potion properly thus far despite… unfavorable elements. That will be six points to Slytherin for speed of completion despite adverse conditions.” Weasley glared at Snape, who scowled back. I flipped the sand glass again, this time pressing the number thirty on the top, which meant it would continue to send sand through the glass until thirty minutes had passed.

_That’s what we’re told anyhow..._

_Look at the runic arrays on the thing. That must have taken ages and a lot of patience, those things are tiny!_

_Or one really big thing got shrunk._

_I don’t think shrinking spells can be made permanent, not on the scale we’re looking at anyway._

_I suppose._

“What’s that for?” Tracey asked, scanning her own book. I pointed to the last section of the entry, where it said to let it simmer no less than thirty minutes and no more than forty.

“So now what?” She asked as I pulled my Charms book from my back, reading quietly and gesturing in the air as I read, miming having a wand to practice the motions. I kept one eye on the rest of the classroom of course, I wasn’t fool enough to let my guard down after something had already exploded.

“You’re not one much for conversation are you?”

“Not usually, books make better conversationalists. They do all the talking and neither of you is loud enough to be heard.” I responded absently, marking the page I was on for later by creasing one corner.

“Don’t like loud noises then? I can understand that. Back home all the loud noises are Caused in one way or another by Astoria’s pranks, whether it them starting or somebody yelling about it, or something else related to that.” She said, keeping her voice down so as not to disturb anyone else. I looked down at the page I was on

**‘Swipe up and down in a triangular shape followed by a convex horizontal line to produce a heatless flame, blue in color.’**

The passage was followed by a diagram to aid the reader.

“And what might be so fascinating that the ward of a noble house has decided to continuously talk to an unwilling conversationalist?” I mused, looking over the entry again.

“You’re a muggleborn, how would you know any of what you just said?”

“How do you know I haven’t already asked around? Hardly seems difficult knowledge to attain.” I said airily, giving the page I was reading a strange look.

_That can’t be right. That motion is in the water family, not the fire family. Unless it’s a combination of the two..._

“Are you even paying attention?”

“Yes I am. You just haven’t said anything yet. What did you need me to pay attention to?” I reached over and lifted the cauldron from the hook, carefully setting it down on the floor next to the fire.

“Supposing for a moment you managed to ask somebody, and they told you all that, why are you asking that question like you already know the answer?” Tracey asked.

“Because I do. The more you listen, the more you watch…” I stopped. If Winter and Daphne were the same person, and Tracey and Daphne were as close as they seemed, she’d know what came next.

“The more you control the situation.” She finished automatically. My smile turned focused for a moment as her eyes widened.

“You knew!” She hissed.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that, not knowing what it is I’m being accused of knowing. Now, I’d like to get back to comparing families of wand motions and picking apart how their combinations work.”

“Ooh, Daphne is not going to be happy about this...” Tracey groaned. I shrugged, closing the book, keeping my place with my finger.

“If she sent you out to talk with me she’d know I would figure it out. Now, when next you talk with Winter, tell her that I’ve got a mark in mind and I’ll need some guidance on Wizarding ways.” I told her, giving up all pretense of not knowing what she meant.

“Does she need to know what kind of mark?”

“No, but if she asks about it, say silver thread.” I turned back to the book before she nodded. Over the next hour we worked largely in silence, passing things almost without speaking working in unison by mutual silent agreement rather than vocal leadership. Once again we finished our potion first, this time followed by Hermione and Harry, then Draco, who was looking decidedly annoyed that not one but two mudbloods had beaten him at potions.

“You may go now. Best get on to your next classes now.” Snape said. I decided that he was most certainly biased towards us, and that wasn’t a bad thing. I also decided to find out why he disliked Harry. We gathered our things and left. I replaced the extra ingredients in their respective containers and scraped a knife along the cutting board, removing most of the gunk before following my house out of the class.

_Always clean up the mess, never know when somebody might catch you because you left something behind. There’s probably a spell to clean things up, but it’s never a bad idea._

“Five points to Slytherin.” I paused at the door and looked over my shoulder at Snape, who could almost be described as smiling. My smile focused again as I nodded to him before stepping out and closing the door behind me. The smile returned to its unfocused dreamy state before I’d finished closing the door.

_Let’s see… Transfiguration next, right?_

_You’re looking at tomorrow Thorn. We’ve got charms next._

“Hogwarts, what do you say are the odds of any of my yearmates knowing where the Charms classroom is?” I asked as the other students walked off. One of the small lights flickered once, then after a pause flickered very quickly. I chuckled, shaking my head as I walked down the hall toward where one of the hovering balls of light was bobbing in circles.

“One in a million or so? I can see that, those maps are downright confusing. I wonder if the professors give first years extra time to get to class since they don’t know where anything is.” I continued on like that for a few minutes, talking quietly to the castle as I walked, decidedly ignoring the duo who were trailing behind me.

“Is it just me being paranoid or something or am I somewhere near the middle of a huge spiderweb I don’t want to be within twenty countries of? I’m not genius, but I figure a magical castle and a bunch of wizard paintings have to be better at wizard politics and stuff then I am, right?” I asked. I got the distinct impression that Hogwarts was laughing at me, even though it shouldn’t have been possible for a castle.

 _Then again, what rules do we know really apply to magical sentient castles built on top of several dozen leylines? For all we know the thing can fly._ I turned up a staircase and started up the stairs.

“Y’know, I’m starting to think that you’ve got a path in mind that isn’t the fastest one Hogwarts.”

Again, I got the sense that the castle was laughing at me as I walked. It was an odd feeling, to be laughed at by a castle. Unless I was just going more insane than I thought I was. Which wasn’t entirely out of the question, I did have voices in my head after all.

“Do you ever get the sense that you know where the world is going Hogwarts? I used to think I knew my place in the world, knew how I would spend the rest of my life, knew how I would die. I knew how everyone I knew would live and how they would die. I knew those things. I fought hard to make sure I knew how the world around me worked, how the people around me worked. And now, in a few days, it’s changed so much, but not enough at the same time. Like I know every path, every footstep, every word before they happen, yet I’ve never seen or heard them before. I don’t like it.” There was no response from the castle as I stopped at a door which slowly creaked open and closed without anyone moving it, the handle itself turning in circles.

I slipped through and sat down in one of the empty seats. I didn’t recognize any of the students currently present, but the blue and bronze that accented their uniforms made it quite clear that they were ravenclaws. Most of them were fully absorbed into the book they were reading, but a good portion of them had the presence of mind to look up to see who had just come in. I got some strange looks, the odd smile on my face probably set at considerable odds with what they had been told about Slytherins. A few were suspicious though, something I found oddly gratifying. Once the rest of class filtered in Flitwick started going over a specific wand movement, one that, if I had to guess, we would be practicing for a while.

_Let’s see let’s see… ah wingardium Leviosa, a basic levitation charm._

_Basic eh?_

_That’s what I said, yes. NO YOU IDIOT!_ Unfortunately for Steel, his less rational half decided that now would be a good time to take control of my mouth and the whispered incantation was out before Steel could finish. Malfoy’s desk promptly buried itself in the ceiling. At the same time my desk exploded outwards, spraying splinters of wood across a good section of the classroom.

_Basic does not mean you can do it just like that idiot!_

_Well how was I to know that?_

_If ever you paid attention you would know that already!_ A few minutes later and the desks were back to normal and we were, more or less, waving our wands over our desks in a specific pattern best meant for rote memorization. Without any other brilliant ideas from either Steel or Thorn I was able to make it through class without any other incidents. One of the Ravenclaws did send an accidentally summoned fireball into Draco’s hair before class was over though. I was fairly sure that it hadn’t been an accident, but why would I bring that up when Flitwick so easily dismissed it as such? Tracey and Daphne both stayed on the opposite side of the room from me, and I was happy to let them do so.

Class ended after more wand waving and a discussion of magical theory that felt like sixty hours each. As the rest of my class filed out I quietly asked Hogwarts for help navigating her hallways to history of magic. I wasn’t entirely sure why she was willing to help, but I was more than willing to accept her help. Being a castle I would be living in for the next few years, I doubted any requests she made of me would be things I didn’t want done anyway.

_Then again, who knows how a castle thinks? And while we’re on the subject of things that we don’t know that could be unpleasant…_

_Greengrass and Davis following us again. How shocking. Plans for when we do finally have a real chat?_

_Extremely well controlled situation._

_How extreme are we talking here? Personally I don’t think we stop at anything less than her starting on the defensive and a pack of rabid wolves as backup._

_Uh… we are both talking about Winter here, right?_

_Oh. right. I think I forgot that we’re not dealing with both of them at the same time._

_Come on! I’m insane, not suicidal!_

_Then so long as we don’t let Silver in until after we start chatting we should be safe._

_We’re not safe if we’re in the same room when those two first reunite._

_Oh yes… the ‘my bestest friend EVER!’ scene. How did I forget that one?_ I unconsciously rubbed a hand over one ear at the memory that particular line of thought brought up. Then I chuckled, whispering my plan to Hogwarts for no real reason other than the idle interest she might have in it. I wasn’t sure why I thought the castle was a she.

“I don’t suppose you recall the only time I wanted to go deaf?” I called to my two tails. One of them grumbled slightly and The duo stood up, walking out in the open now they’d been spotted. Daphne had a wistful look in her eyes.

“Silver had just seen me again after… what was it, four days? Five? But she sure made up for it coming down that alleyway.” Daphne shook her head in memory.

“Yup. She got to the end of that alley and slammed into you like a sixty pound snowball and had you on the ground instantly. You never could figure out that aspect of combat.” I smiled slightly as I kept walking. Tracey frowned, looking between us in confusion.

“I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t he want to be able to hear right then?”

“Because the whole time she was running down that alley and the next hour after she was yelling about how much she had missed her ‘BESTEST FRIEND EVER!” I chuckled when Daphne and Tracey shot almost a full foot into the air as I yelled that last bit. I swore I felt Hogwarts laughing again. It still felt odd. I was gone before they touched the ground, running as fast as I could before Winter caught up with me. Hogwarts made up for my increased pace with ease and I found myself at the door to history of magic in only a few minutes.

_Didn’t we get stabbed last time Winter chased us?_

_Several times Thorn. Several times._

_Still better than her icy ‘glare o death’ she usually used._

_I don’t want to know what evil tricks she could play if she combined that glare with magic._

_I’d rather you not have mentioned that possibility Steel._

_Me neither now I think about it._

Once inside the classroom I discovered that the class was taught by a ghost. I was admittedly less surprised than I probably should have been, what with the sentient castle and all the other ghosts we’d been seated with at the tables. I was however surprised at his utter incompetence. After an hour of class I would have said even Hermione couldn’t have stayed focused on we managed to stagger out, some of the others wiping trails of drool from their mouths as they walked or rubbing at red patches. After that class and seeing my classmates reactions I decided I wasn’t likely going to be able to walk out properly either and stayed behind long enough to stretch my legs a bit before I bolted off down the path that Hogwarts had provided. I made sure to thank her when I reached the Great Hall of course.

_How’s that thing go again? You can’t be too careful with houses and cats?_

_I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about Thorn._ I looked over the table with a critical eye, my stomach warring with my better judgement as I tried to find something that didn’t seem likely to try and kill me once it got into my bloodstream. Once I managed to convince my stomach that if I had lived eleven years on a small diet another year wasn’t going to kill me, especially if I decided to add a little more during dinner, when there was an abundance of actual food instead of the light meals I was seeing for lunch.

Once I selected a pair of small sandwiches from one of the many platters, which together just managed to fill my palm, and resumed my wandering of the room, my standard spacey smile adorning my face. I very deliberately did not meet Daphne’s gaze as I wandered the hall. Most of the students ignored me once I passed their table once or twice, to the point that only Draco and Daphne even gave me a second look when I passed them a third time. On the fourth time around I showed myself out as the rest of the students started getting up to go to their classes. Following the path laid out for me by Hogwarts once again I quickly found myself outside a door with a crisply written sign that labeled it as the transfiguration classroom. The classroom itself was empty, save for one Tabby cat that sat on the desk, idly bathing itself. Something about the cat looked off, so I gave it a wide berth as I studied the classroom. Satisfied that nothing else in the classroom was going to try and attack me or similar, I gently set my bag down on one of the chairs in the back and turned, studying the cat closely.

“Well, you don’t _look_ like anything other than a normal cat, but who said that looks were everything? I mused as I walked toward the cat. It was a black and white tabby with odd square markings around its eyes that seemed familiar for some reason. I reached out and scratched it behind the ears one then returned to my seat and opened one of the Transfiguration books I had gotten to a random page. Thirty seconds in I groaned loudly.

_Well that’s just great._

_Yup absolutely brilliant of us._

_So how does one apologize to a professor who you just pet while in feline animagus form?_

_No idea Steel. You’re on your own here._

_If I could, I would hex you through the core of the earth and into the sun._

_Noted._

“So how does one apologize for something like that Professor McGonagall? Then again, does one apologize for accidents of that nature or… I’m going to hurt my head if I keep thinking about that aren’t I?” I finished, directing that last part to nobody in particular. The cat—Mcgonagall—laughed. At least inasmuch as cats could laugh. So did Hogwarts.

“Yes yes, very funny both of you.” I said, giving the cat and the wall behind her an attempt at a scowl. I failed on account of wanting to join in their laughter as well. A moment later I did join them in laughing as I traded the book I’d been holding for the transfiguration book I was supposed to be using for the class. I wasn’t sure how the bag worked, just that it was nigh on weightless and was thus far able to hold everything I’d been able to fit through the opening. The fact that my cauldron and a few others hadn’t been able to fit in it was the only reason I had bought a trunk, which now sat at the foot of my bed completely empty. Since my cauldron had been in the potions classroom I assumed my telescope and the like had been transported to their respective classrooms.

As I read I kept up a semi constant talk with Hogwarts, trying to pay attention to what she was trying to tell me. It wasn’t easy to tell what she was saying, but I figured if I focused hard enough I’d get more impressions, similarly to when she laughed. I wasn’t sure that that was what would happen, but I was already mostly insane, the worst I figured could happen would be that I’d just be confirmed as insane, rather than just thinking I was insane.

The first thing McGonagall did after transforming back into a human was give us a strict talking to about how dangerous Transfiguration was. It wasn’t really all that interesting over all. I managed to blow up the matchstick we were given, unfortunately Draco didn’t get hit by any of the splinters. McGonagall did ask me to stay after class, but I got the distinct impression that it wasn’t related to the exploding matchstick. Draco was of course tickled pink at the idea that I was in trouble my first day.

After class, and once everyone had filtered out of the classroom, I walked over to McGonagall’s desk and waited for her to explain why she’d wanted me.

“I am curious to know how you realized I was an animagus, as none of the first year course materials covered it and none of the students have been to the library so far today.”

“I didn’t just get the books on the list Professor. There were a few others that looked interesting. Let’s see… ah, here’s the one I found it in. _The student’s overview: transfiguration._ I didn’t get the full set, just that one, runes and Charms. I gave Miss Granger the Runes one since I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.” I pulled out the book in question and flipped through it, looking for the page I had inadvertently opened to before pointing to a section and turning it to McGonagall.

“I see. I would warn you then that while this series is a good overview, it is by no means a good study guide. I have seen one too many students try and use them as such and the results were not pleasant. As for ancient runes, it is a highly complex topic and a book that barely glosses over the surface of the topic, as these books do, would hardly be a useful guide.” McGonagall returned the book, shaking her head slightly.

“I see. Thank you for telling me Professor. I will have to ask around a bit next time I go to hunt for books. Clearly not all of them are as useful as I would hope.” I still hadn’t dropped the strange smile I wore near constantly. It was far too effective at keeping people from realizing my true thoughts and feelings since almost nobody bothered to look for the reason behind it.

I walked out the door and followed the unmistakable trail Hogwarts left for me that led to the greenhouse we were having Herbology in. This was one class I was excited to attend because we would be learning where many of the ingredients for our potions came from. Charms had seemed boring from the outset, as had Transfiguration, although the animagus transformation seemed fascinating, I doubted it would be taught in school, the books made it seem too difficult to teach to the average wizard.

I didn’t have any tails this time, probably because the rest of the Slytherins had already moved on before I left the classroom. Again, I was the first Slytherin to our classroom, if one could use the term for a greenhouse. Most of the Hufflepuffs were already there, and those that weren’t were filtering in as I arrived. As with the ravenclaws, I mostly received confused looks, with a few suspicious ones scattered throughout. Again, I felt the suspicious ones were preferable.

“I know the rest of the Snakes aren’t all that great, but that kid looks like he couldn’t hurt you if he wanted to. He’s too scrawny.” One of the puffs whispered.

“That’s if he even could want to. I dunno, he might be a snake, but I doubt he’s going to be one who fits the ‘any means to reach their ends’ types.” his companion whispered back. I pet the venomous tentacula as I walked past it, gently petting or rubbing most of the other plants that seemed even semi-conscious of their surroundings. The direct side effect of this was that nearly every plant that could reach me was soon competing with the rest for my attention.

_You know, I kinda get the feeling that Hogwarts put them up to this._

_Then we absolutely owe them the attention. After all, we promised we’d help out where we could, did we not?_

_I know we did. I’m just saying it’s a bit annoying, that’s all Steel._

_I suppose I can’t argue with that. Hey! Get out of our ear! They are a bit annoying, but in the same way that kittens and puppies are. They don’t realize they’re annoying us Thorn._ I pulled the plant that had inadvertently poked a leaf at my ear away from it and rubbed one hand over it idly, giving the Slytherins an amused look as they filtered in and froze in shock. Professor Sprout looked like she was going to pass out from the blissful look on her face, and I wasn’t sure that would end well for anyone.

“What? They seem to have taken a liking to me.” I said innocently, shrugging slightly as I pet. The few Slytherins who hadn’t sent their jaws below the earths crust did so. A couple of the Hufflepuffs sniggered at them, though a few were looking at me with just as much shock. Eventually Professor Sprout recovered and started talking excitedly.

“First the Longbottom boy, Neville, and now you. I’m so excited! Two students in the same year with such a good relationship with the plants in my greenhouses!” She exclaimed before sending us to find a place to sit. Most of the Purebloods stared about before carefully picking a spot to sit where there was less dirt, though there wasn’t a place in the greenhouse where there wasn’t any. Daphne just gave them a haughty look and sat down easily on the ground between several different plants. I grinned at her back.

 _So, even after all those years, she still hasn’t lost the ability to ignore what she’s surrounded by. Not bad._ Once everyone had seated themselves Professor started her talk. A few different basic species of plants… don’t let the venomous tentacula bite you… let’s look at this one…

_That’s actually interesting, isn’t it Steel._

_Well, I suppose that if there’s one place to have a dangerous man-eating plant it would be in the same classroom as where you have new students take lessons wouldn’t it?_

_I suppo… that was sarcasm wasn’t it?_

_Yes. yes it was. There should not be a devil’s snare in a student-accessible greenhouse, even if we are going over how to defeat it as our first lesson._

_...I don’t like this Steel._ Thorn’s comment was caused by the sudden appearance of one of the devil’s snare tendrils draping itself gently over my shoulders as it reached towards one of the other students.

_Do we have to deal with this much torment from Hogwarts?_

_Well she’s not killing us, and annoyance is I suppose something to deal with. I mean she’s nowhere_ near _the level we got with Silver and Winter._

 _The three of us never could get off the other’s nerves for long, could we?_ I gently lifted the Devil’s snare off my shoulders and carefully pulled the tendril back to the rest of the plant, giving Professor sprout a pointed look on account of her having just told us that it wasn’t likely to come into the sun since it had a natural weakness to light of any kind. She sighed and sent a quick bolt of blue flames at the thing, causing it to recoil and pull the end of the tendril back into the shadowy corner it inhabited.

“As I was saying, it won’t normally leave that corner, but if it senses a large source of energy, such as you two, Mr’s Crabbe and Goyle, it is entirely possible that it will risk an attempt. The plant is only in the Hogwarts greenhouses at all due to extenuating circumstances and will be transplanted as soon as that has changed and it can be planted in its proper home.” She said apologetically. Nearly the entire class seemed at least slightly disturbed by the plant, which had almost wrapped itself fully around Crabbe several times before Professor Sprout had stopped it. I kept my amusement to myself.

_If only she’d been a bit slower. Then we would have had a nice little bonus to our first day._

_One or both of those two idiots dead? That would have been nice._

Besides the incident with the Devil’s snare, little of interest happened. It turned out Puffapods were used for fodder for many of the magical animals, which I supposed would be more interesting if we had already had Care of Magical creatures. It was also a mild toxin, so Sprout made sure we all knew not to eat it. I slipped a few grains into my pocket when nobody was looking.

_First warning for Draco. No killing, after all, but who said we couldn’t cause him trouble?_

_Nobody said we couldn’t…_

“Now, who can tell me what this is?” Sprout pointed to another plant with long curled tendrils, each of which had a single leaf growing out from the base of it. I frowned. It looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure why.

“It looks like a wizard’s Ocean.” One of the others volunteered.

“Correct, or to use the more technical term, the magus mare, is actually both the most useless and most useful plant on the grounds. If you look carefully outside, you’ll see them everywhere.” Professor sprout let us stew over that for a moment before continuing. I wondered exactly what this plant did that made it so useful and so useless at the same time, rather than trying to figure out how something could be useless and useful at the same time.

“The reason for this is that while the plant has no useful functions of its own, it grows only where there are high concentrations of magic naturally occurring. The second thing it does it enhances those natural magic concentrations. Now who here can tell me what this means?” Sprout asked cheerfully. I narrowed my eyes at Draco and his gang, who were looking around at everyone else with superior expressions.

“Because it means they can be used to map out leylines and improve them.” I muttered, rolling my eyes at Draco as his eyes met mine. He glared at me for an instant before continuing to rake his gaze over the class.

“Perhaps you would be willing to enlighten us, Mr. Malfoy?” Professor sprout asked him. I smiled as his confident smirk dropped ever so slightly before he caught it, barely a flicker of motion.

“Of course Professor. This unique trait of the Magus Mare allows us to see where the leylines are, which ones are strongest, and thus we can map them easily.” He responded haughtily. Professor sprout nodded, acknowledging his answer, and turned back to the plant.

“That is true Draco. Now some of you may be wondering why this one happens to be in such a convenient place in the greenhouse, since they have no natural methods of reproduction. Well, until recently we would have had to leave the greenhouse to see this one, however we were able to transplant it with a little difficulty and a few extra hands.” Sprout continued. I noticed she hadn’t told us why the plant was moved and decided to ask her after class. A few more minutes on the virtues of certain plants, none of which I could forsee myself needing to know, Sprout excused us and told us that school was over for the day. I remained seated until everyone else had left.

“Professor Sprout, why was the Viridi Mare transplanted?” I asked quietly, idly rubbing one hand over the leathery coils of the Venomous tentacula as it rubbed against my arm like some sort of massive housecat. She jumped slightly as she turned to face me.

“A few of my coworkers were curious if it could draw magic from a concentrated area to a less concentrated place. The easiest way to tell anything about natural magic is through the plants. Even non-magical plants will grow better near a leyline or magical wellspring. The goal was to use them to manipulate the leylines to enhance the Wards and other magical defences. It seems to be successful so far, since the plants have been doing much better than normal, but magical readings indicate that the area has no more magic than the rest of the grounds. As such the idea has been discarded.” She made a shooing motion with one hand as I opened the door again and I nodded to her, slipped out the door, and started exploring the grounds, leaving the forbidden forest for later. As the sun dipped down towards the horizon I walked back to the castle, a trace of devilishness in my normally spacey smile as I felt to make sure the puffapod grains I had powered were still there.


	8. Day one, Part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I see first hand what Ingesting puffapod powder does.  
> I then attend a meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics are thoughts, Underlined is Thieves cant, Underlined italics are sounds conveyed by magical methods. (not counting spells that make one speak louder.

Once I returned to the Great Hall, again with Hogwarts help to avoid getting lost, I made my way straight to the Slytherins table, where I slipped some of the powdered Puffapod grains onto Draco’s plate, followed by Crabbe and Goyle’s. Once I finished, I slipped to a random open spot and snagged a piece of meat from the table, seating myself against the wall as I ate before I rose and wandered the Great Hall, keeping my ears open for anything interesting.

“...Sure Binns knows it’s not useful!”

“Said that he…”

“Can’t believe it! A full roll of…”

A few more conversations later I moved on to the Ravenclaw table, leaving the Hufflepuff table behind. For the most part, the ‘Puffs seemed content to ignore me, though they gave a few furtive glances toward the Slytherin table.

“Can’t wait to get back…”

“...I suppose that’s possible, but…”

“Maybe he’s right, but I think…”

“So if we took the proper harmonic reading…”

“I’d just combine the first and second laws of…”

“... Might be, but Bourne’s third principle clearly states…” The next conversation made me perk my ears up as I passed, though I didn’t slow down.

“...He’s coming this way.”

“So? I doubt he’s even paying attention. And even if he is, Luke said he didn’t do a thing, probably won’t unless…”

_ Only one of the whole lot who’d have a chance out in the real world. _

_ And he’d die of hunger in a few days going off his figure. _

_ Not exactly the right shape for much physical exertion is he? _

“Six sickles says that spell combination goes horribly wrong.” An older girl told her companion smugly. Something about her struck me as bad news, not in the same way as somebody not above killing, but still threatening. Like an enforcer, strong and often malicious, but not quite evil by default.

As with the Hufflepuffs, the Ravenclaws mostly ignored me, though they sent guarded looks toward Slytherin as well. It was as though the first two houses didn’t even acknowledge me as a Slytherin, which was fine with me.

From the Ravenclaw table I walked to the Gryffindor table, who seemed the most biased against Slytherins. Despite that, even they ignored me for the most part, with the longest lasting complaint coming from the obnoxious Redhead from earlier.

_ What was that Redhead’s name again? _

_ Roden… Rodney? Was that it? I forget. _

_ Eh, whatever. It seems like he’s the only one who isn’t buying the theory that the hat made a mistake with our placement. _

_ Life is full of sceptics. _

“He’s still a snake! Everyone knows they’re evil.”

_ But he’s right to doubt it, isn’t he? _

_ In a way. But there’s always more to a story than just what’s on the surface. _

“Look, I agree, the snakes are usually evil, but he seems more like the Hat made a mistake, I mean what’s he done? Walked around the Great Hall? Innocent until proven guilty I say.” The boy next to him, Thomas, as I recalled, reasoned. I kept walking, giving no indication I’d heard their conversation. As I passed Hermione sent me a message in thieves cant.

Library?

I’m just waiting for the show before I leave.

I’ll be watching then. We’ll see you in the Library.

I slipped back to my table, dusted Draco’s plate again with the last of the Puffapod dust for good measure, grabbed a roll, and walked over to the door, waiting. Sprout had said that it was a fast acting poison, and I wanted to know just how fast it was.

Unsurprisingly, Draco was the first to show symptoms. I doubted he'd ever done any more exercise than a short jog based off his complexion, which was rapidly turning a lovely shade of green. He then began projectile vomiting plant pieces, which left bright green spots on whatever they touched. It took only a few seconds for him to have the attention of the entire Great Hall as he, Crabbe and Goyle began spewing plant matter all over the Great hall. I frowned, berating myself for not checking the symptoms of ingesting Puffapod grains earlier.

“Sorry about the mess, I didn’t know it would do that.” I whispered to Hogwarts as I leaned against the wall. The Gryffindors were laughing, and the Teachers seemed to be frozen in surprise while the other three tables were in chaos, some trying to help, others ducking to avoid the projectile leaves. Across the hall I spotted Snape searching the Great Hall. A second later his eyes met mine. I smiled and waved slightly at him. He narrowed his eyes at me, looking to Malfoy and back. I nodded faintly and left the Hall.

“Can you do me a favor?” I asked a painting of a bored looking woman.

“What kind of favor? It’s been a long time since anybody has spoken to me. We paintings really do only one thing, and that’s offer guidance to lost students. But nobody ever asks me where to go since they are right next to the Great Hall already. Never think they’ll need help until later.” She said, perking up considerably.

“Can you tell me who follows me to the library, if anybody does?”

“Of course. I’ll ask the young man in the portrait right next to the library doors to let you know what we find out. I always did love intrigue.” She told me, a gleam in her eyes. I smiled and bowed to her then started toward the library, having roughly figured out how the school was laid out. Once there I was hailed by the man in the portrait, just as I had been told I would.

“Ho there! The lady by the Great Hall asked if I would tell you that you have been followed by two Gryffindors, one male and one female, two female Slytherins, and one male and one female Slytherin, in that order. She also said that none of the groups seemed aware of the others.” I smiled and bowed again.

“My thanks to you all. And give the Lady my particular thanks for being willing to help.”

“Any time my young friend. Being in a painting is awfully boring after all, so any time a student bothers to take the time to speak with us we all enjoy it, especially when it’s something other than asking for directions. Almost feels like I was still alive...” He trailed off as he wandered off the canvas. I walked in and started carving runes into the underside of the table before asking Madam Pince where to find the extra reading books that weren’t on the standard supplies list. I thought it slightly odd that there would be assigned books not in the supplies list, but that was life. With several books on the table in front of me I got out a roll of parchment and my quills, working on the homework I’d been given and keeping both ears open. After a few minutes I came across a section in my potions book that I decided to research more on and started off along the alleyways, hunting for books on the topic. I left a few linked runes all around the Library as I searched, eventually I found what I was looking for and brought it back to my table, carving a linking rune in the table that was connected to all the runes I had put in the library.

Hermione and Harry stepped through the door and made their way towards me. I grabbed a pinch of sand from the basin in the center of the table and spread it over my page, activating my runes as I did.

“Good afternoon Steelthorn, how are you?” Harry asked energetically. I waved to them, gesturing for them to sit.

“I am alive.” I said distractedly. As they sat down the library doors opened again. From our table we could see Tracy and Daphne as they walked in, looking around the library.

“This would be what I wanted to talk about. I suspect Daphne to actually be Winter. Among other things it explains why ‘Winter’ was so accepting of things like my runes. I also have other sources, but you’ll understand if I keep those to myself? Right now I’m just hoping to get some kind of confirmation.” I told the duo, tracking the newcomers with my eyes before they were lost behind the bookshelves.

“And how will we find your confirmation?” Harry asked. I smiled crookedly at him and pointed to the linking rune I had put in the table.

“Just listen, and all shall be revealed.” I responded, activating the listening runes. Sounds began to come from the runes from all over the library, giving the area a surreal sort of feeling as the nearly inaudible sounds that filled the library were amplified and multiplied.

“What is it?” They asked simultaneously. I made a shushing gesture with my hand.

“It’s the terminal of a bunch of linked rune sequences in the library. All the sequences out there form the ‘ears’ of this thing. This sequence in here is the part that tells us what the ears are hearing. I haven’t gotten it right yet though, or it wouldn’t do this thing with all the other noises.” I whispered, gesturing around us. As we waited for something useful they unpacked their books from their bags. Eventually voices started sounding through the runes, the only ones in the library besides our own.

_ “They have to be here somewhere, there’s no way they got a message to each other that we missed, we were watching too closely. Where are they though? Theo and Alison will be here soon and they’re going to want to know what is going on.” _ That was Tracey’s voice. It really was nice how true the voices were to reality.

_ “Don’t talk like that Tracey, you don’t know who might be listening. Even the walls have ears after all. And besides, I’m certain I saw them using Thieves cant.”  _

“That sounds like Winter alright. Paranoid about everything and sounds like she’s one syllable away from cursing.” Hermione commented with a smile.

“She’s mellowed considerably though.”

_ “Oh come on Daphne! There’s nobody here that’s going to hear, we already checked. And if they did use that to talk, when did they do it? We were watching the entire time!” _

“What do you mean she’s mellowed?”

“She’s less… emotional. Probably means she won’t be cursing as much.”

_ “No Tracy. You don’t know them like I do. You’ve only ever heard the stories I told and showed you. They’d find a way to hide it. And besides, the portrait said he asked about who was following him. That means he’s here, and if I know Steelthorn—” _

“Clever girl, to ask if I checked for a tail.”

“You used the paintings as spies?”

“Did you expect otherwise?”

_ “You don’t, it’s been nearly four years.” _

_ “—Then he’ll be listening in somehow.” _

“I shouldn’t have expected you not to, but I suppose I did.”

_ “So what do we do now? Even if he is listening in, and I don’t think he is, ” _

_ “Look for what isn’t there. It’ll be just like on the train.” _

_ “Great, because it was so much fun last time.” _

_ “You could at least stop complaining.” _ The runes went mostly silent again.

“Perfect. Theodore Nott and Alison Rosier are next on my guest list, and we’ve got a meeting to orchestrate.”  I said proudly. Hermione looked at me and we shared impish smiles. Harry flicked the runes with his wand, disabling them as he looked worriedly between us.

“What did that mean?” Hermione and I looked at him and smiled.

“It means we found proof that Daphne Greengrass is Winter, and that they’re looking for us. Now we need to find out exactly why. I doubt it’s to reunite with her old friends.”

“I meant the other thing. A meeting that we need to orchestrate, you said.”

“Oh that. We just need to figure out a way to get Daphne, Tracey, Alison, and Theo together to talk while we listen in.” I said airily.

“And that’s… hard.”

“Oh no. Quite the opposite in fact.” Hermione told him.

“How?”

“They’re already allies, tentatively anyway, so we just need to nudge them in the right path and we get the meeting we need, rather than the one that they’re hoping for.” I told him, slipping out of the protected bubble formed by the runes.

“How do we nudge them?” He asked Hermione as I climbed up one of the bookcases.

“Watch and learn Sparky, watch and learn.” She whispered knowingly.

“Still don’t like that name. And how can I watch when I can’t see anything?”

“Listen then.”

“How— Oh. You mean the runes.”

I chuckled at them and slipped forward along the top of the shelves, moving toward a specific table in a secluded part of the Library.

_ And it’s about to become more secluded. _ I thought with a smile as I drew runes on top of the bookshelves surrounding the table, inscribing a few more on the underside of the table, effectively building a room around the table. My preparations complete I returned to where Harry and Hermione were waiting.

“You’re up Silver, so get Theo and Alison. I’ve got a signal rune in place, as usual.” I told her, indicating the corner we would be waiting in. She nodded and walked off. I scrubbed the table we were sitting at of all runes and led Harry to my pre prepared table, where we both scaled the bookshelves around the table and activated the sequences around us, one of which let me hear what was going on in the Library.

_ “Theo, we have to tell them today, you saw the letter, we don’t have enough time to wait any longer!” _

_ “I know Alison, I know. I just don’t want to cause them any more problems, we both know they’ve already got enough on their plate.” _

_ “They hate the Malfoys Theo, despite Astoria’s betrothal, they hate them. I doubt they’ll turn us down, but we have to tell them.” _

_ “Fine. we’ll go look for them later today." _  I grinned, looking at Harry, who was unaware of what I had just heard.

_ “Hmmm. Well that means that since they’ve allied themselves, the house of Rosier-Nott, the house of Davis, and the house of Greengrass I mean, they’re the most powerful force short of… an alliance between two of the three great houses, Peverel, Black, and Malfoy.” _ I chuckled, leaning over to talk to a confused looking Harry.

“Silver just set the bait. I’m not sure where she got it though.” I explained.

_ “Alison, did I hear that correctly?” _ The voices were quieter now, but not quiet enough.

_ “Yes my Lord. Somebody knows about our alliance.” _

_ “Well best we go and find them. Can’t be having anyone know about it who shouldn’t.” _ This was followed by a pounding of running feet. I waited for two seconds and activated the signal beacon sequence beneath my feet. As I activated it I heard a sudden rushing of feet as Tracey called a question.

_ “Why are we running?” _

_ “Because Steelthorn set off a signal beacon. It’s a rune that tells us his general direction and distance. It’s like that Hot-cold Game ‘Story always wants us to play. Steelthorn, since I know you can hear me, — yourself!” _ I chuckled as Tracey protested her choice of words. From the way she’d reacted, I could guess what Daphne had said. whether for good or ill, my listening runes didn’t transmit cursing, swearing, or the like. I couldn’t wait to find a way to use that to annoy her, as they were something I’d come up with after we’d been split up.

A moment later Hermione came into view, quickly running to the shelves and scaling them quickly.

“I see you kept your climbing skills up to scratch.” I commented blandly. Hermione glared at me.

“I feel so… complimented.” She said cooly, activating the runes beneath her feet.

“I don’t understand. She climbed the shelf just fine.” Harry said, giving me an odd look.

“She’s not as good as she was, and of our trio, she climbed slowest of any of us unless something was on her tail.”

_ And even then she wasn’t very good, if I recall correctly Steel. _

_ No. She really wasn’t meant for rooftops. Crowds of people she and Winter— Daphne, had us beaten by an insurmountable distance. But on the rooftops, we were unmatched. _

“Oh. Do you always try and annoy everyone Steelthorn?” Harry asked.

“Sometimes. Now we’re just waiting for our… honored guests to arrive.”

We didn’t have to wait long. Theo and Alison arrived only a few seconds after we stopped talking and sat down at the table, breathing hard.

“Where… did she go?”

“More importantly my Lord, how did she know we were allies with Greengrass? That happened in private yesterday!” Alison exclaimed.

“I’d say that Greengrass must have blabbed, but to who? How would a Gryffindor know but not the other Slytherins Alison? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I agree my Lord. But I feel as though there is something very obvious that we are missing.”

“And you’re probably right. You’re always right when you say things like that.” Theo told her, a hint of exasperation in his voice. I chuckled quietly, deactivating my signal beacon sequence.

“Oh! Hello Theo, Alison.” Tracey said, jumping in surprise as she and Daphne rounded a bookshelf and found themselves face to face with the duo. Daphne bowed low, smacking Tracey as she did. Alison reached out and raised her upright, confusion evident even from my position.

“Are we not alone here Heiress Greengrass?”

“No, Heiress Rosier.” Daphne said quickly, sitting down at Theo’s gesture.

“Explain then, I wish to know how you can be so sure of that. This library is a large place after all, and there seem to be only a few people in it at this time.”

“Steelthorn, Hermione Granger, also known as Silver, and Heir Potter were seen entering the Library by the portrait outside the door. They have not left yet. I don’t know where they are hiding, because we already scanned the entire library through the sharing and saw no sign of them. Thus, they are on the move but we don’t know where.” Daphne elaborated.

“I see. It has also come to our attention that somehow Hermione Granger has learned of our alliance. Do you know how that could have happened?” Alison asked sternly. Daphne spun, giving Tracey a triumphal look.

“I told you they were listening!”

“Alright alright, you were right, you do know Steelthorn fairly well still, it doesn’t help us find them, but you still predicted them.” Tracey said in a longsuffering tone.

“Did you at least check for his runes before you started saying anything else that might be incriminating?”

“Er…”

“You are a pair of damn fools. You know that?” Daphne spat, flipping upside down to look under the table. I smirked and held up my hand, counting down from three.

_ Three… Oh this should be good…. _

_ Two... I think we might have overdone it a little. _

_ One… Yeah. If it wasn’t her, I’d feel bad. _

_ ZERO! _ There was a flash from under the table and Daphne came back up, her waist long white-blonde hair now flashing through every color of the rainbow like a brilliant neon sign. I’d also added a few… other consequences, which Daphne was already feeling, if the sudden stiffening in posture was any indication. Additionally, letters were appearing on the table that rippled red, black, and silver, writing out a series of messages.

**The ex-muggle thief known as Steelthorn wishes to know why one of his oldest friends thought it wise to tamper with an unknown runic sequence.**

**In addition, the section of his mind devoted to being more annoying wishes to inquire if the four guests at the table enjoy bright colors.**

**As a final note, The half of his mind not devoted to being annoying wishes to ask why the four guests at this table are so careless as to have willing walked into what could have been a lethal trap.** The quartet looked between each other uneasily. The three of us on the shelves traded smirks as the neon hair quickly spread to the other three nobles at the table, replacing their old hair colors. Tracey yelped suddenly as the over effects of the runic sequences spread alongside the hair color. Theo and Alison stiffened, but they maintained their more formal appearance.

“Now what Steelthorn?”

“Surround and reveal. Don’t worry about the drop, so long as you’re above the table you’ll be under the effect of the cushioning sequence I put under the bin of sand. And of course, infectious rune sequences only work on people close enough when they trigger.” That last bit was something of an afterthought on my part, but I figured I should add it. As the other two moved towards the edges of their shelfs I stealthily walked over to the edge of the shelves, directly above the only exit from the table.

“Now I think about it, that really was dumb of us.”

“How did we get duped so perfectly? It’s like… well, like magic!”

“Tracey, you know that sheet of spells I told you to always keep on you?” Daphne asked coolly, drawing her wand as she spoke.

“Yes…”

“Give it to me.” Tracey nodded and passed Daphne a folded sheet of parchment, which was promptly unfolded and spread over the table. As Daphne started going over what was written on it, Hermione and Harry dropped off the shelves, landing silently on the (now cushioned) tabletop. I grinned at Hermione’s next move, preparing to dismiss the runic sequences that hid them. A moment later, the runes winked out of existence, revealing them to the four other students.

“AHHH!”

“MERLIN’S BEARD!”

“WHAT IN HADES?”

“... I hate you. All three of you.” Daphne said flatly to the duo, who were now seated next to them.

“Yeah, yeah, good to see you too Winter.” Hermione said lightly. Harry just chuckled, shaking his head at the shocked look of the other three nobles. I remained where I was, waiting for the right moment. After all, things like this were oftentimes about presentation as much as the actual meeting.

“Alright, so where’s Steelthorn at? I can’t believe he didn’t show up. I even prepared a special list of hexes for him when this happened.” Daphne complained, to the surprise of everyone but Hermione and myself.

“I think we should leave now, Mi’lord.” Alison said, nudging Theo to get up. Daphne lunged across the table and pulled him back down by one hand. I whistled under my breath admiringly before leaping off the shelves.

“That’s a bad—” Daphne started as Alison climbed past Theo, abandoning decorum, and leapt for the gap between the bookshelves that was the only way out. I promptly landed on her, the runic sequences that hid me fading away as I continued the motion, rolling over and spinning down, bringing my hand down towards her neck, stopping it just barely touching her exposed windpipe. My other hand pressed against Theo’s leg warningly.

_ It’s actually quite a testament to their abilities that they can behave more or less normally while they’ve got burns and… what else did we put on that thing Steel? _

_ The list was minor burns in… uncomfortable places, the hair color thing, and tickling. Honestly why we know how to do those last two is beyond me. At least the first is one we’ve used a variant of fairly often _ _. _

_ It’s because I got that idea to use Runic sequences to disable large groups non-lethaly, remember? _

_ Oh yes… the ones you used to try and prevent gang wars without violence. _

_ You have to admit, the tickling and hair color ones worked. _

“—Idea.” Daphne finished. I grinned and rose, removing my hands from both nobles and snatching Daphne’s paper as I stood up, scanning it carefully.

_ More or less, the hair color one made it so they couldn’t steal anything until after we removed it again, and the tickling one got a few police involved. Unless that particular failing had slipped your mind... _

“Nice, nice, I like the cacophonous blast hex—That is how you pronounce that, right?— This one seems useless, I mean honestly, what good would any sort of speech impediment do to stop me? Hm… now this seems like a piece of work, listen to what it does Hermione. ‘Causes target to become extremely clumsy and foolhardy.’ Now that’s just mean Winter.” I said, looking at her over the paper I’d stolen. As I leaned against the shelf, extending my legs to the other one, barring the exit.

Daphne set one hand on the table, tapping on it in what would seem to be annoyance to most people. Hermione and I listened and nodded faintly once, affirming that we would discuss things properly after Alison and Theo left.

“Now then. I believe I’ve given you a small demonstration, and I’ve learned where your loyalties lie, so how about we discuss what we’re doing specifically? Since we’re clearly going to cause the Malfoys some pain.” I asked, my tone was silky, but dripped with venom. I still wore that vacant smile I wore constantly in public.

“I never thought I’d see anything more terrifying than an enraged Lucius Malfoy.” Alison whispered as she stood up, flinching away from me.

“But that was obvious, big, flamboyant, easy to read. That… is just disturbing.” Theo said in agreement.

“I thought I’d seen it before in our sharing Daphne, but seeing it in person…” Tracey broke off, shaking her head in shock. Harry looked speechless, his mouth hanging wide open.

“It doesn’t get easier the more you see it either.” Hermione said in agreement with the three nobles, gently pushing Harry’s mouth shut with one hand. Daphne for her part, slammed her head into the table with a loud THUNK!

“Why did I think that I could pull that off? And will you just disable this stupid curse already Steelthorn? It kinda hurts.” She complained into the table. I set the parchment neatly on Daphne’s head, covering it partially. I then proceeded to mime a preacher at a funeral service, trying to remember the motions from the one I’d seen the year prior. Harry and Hermione fell into silent laughter as the other three nobles’ jaws dropped as they tried to reconcile this with my actions moment before.

“What did you do Steelthorn? I know it wasn’t removing the curses, or I wouldn’t hurt still.” Daphne asked threateningly from under the parchment.

“I just returned something you lost, Winter dear. And no, you wouldn’t stop hurting. The burns will need time to heal, even after I cancel the sequence.” I replied, leaning against the shelf again to block it off again.

“I’m going to kill you someday, you know that Steelthorn?”

“Maybe. But if you do it’ll be the same day that you manage to convince me to go along with your oft-used epithet of ‘screw you’. In hindsight, is it odd that I’m the one with the cleanest mouth of our trio?” I paused, pondering the question as Daphne ripped the page off her head and flicked her wand at me angrily.

“Tonitrus inauditarum!” She yelled at me, rising from her seat. I laughed, dropping beneath the curse as it flew out of her wand. While I was under the table I disabled most of the curse sequence, though I left the hair color sequence until later.

“Oh Winter. Only you would do something like that even though you knew it wouldn’t work.” I said, shaking my head in mock sorrow as I stood back up.

“To borrow your ‘cleanest mouth’ version, screw you.” She growled.

_ Did she just express annoyance with us without cursing? _

_ I think she might have Steel. _

_ Then again, she is supposed to be playing the part of a noble now, isn’t she? _

_ True, Might not be very… oh what’s the word? _

_ Proper? _

_ Something like that. It might not be very proper for her to use the same language as Winter used to. _

Daphne sighed theatrically, rolling her eyes at us.

“Lord Theodore Nott and Lady Alison Rosier, might I present Steelthorn, Muggle london’s resident expert on behaving like an idiot.” She said with surprising dignity. Hermione snorted.

“That one’s getting old Daphne, you’ll need a new one for him.”

“And one of his closest associates, Hermione Granger, queen of talking your ear off.” Daphne said, crossing her arms and giving her a flat stare.

“If they were your closest friends, it says something about you doesn’t it?” Harry asked innocently. Daphne reddened as Tracey, Hermione and I laughed.

“And apparently I’m also going to introduce Heir Potter, their newest associate and reigning lord of snide comments, second in the kingdom only to Emperor Snape himself.” Daphne said with an exaggerated bow.

_ She’s got a point. Snape did give a lot of those. _

_ So? We’ve probably made plenty as well Thorn. _

_ Fair enough. _

_ Can I ask how she bowed while sitting down at a table? _

_ No. No you may not Steel. _ Theo and Alison were still staring at us blankly. I frowned, snapping my fingers in front of their eyes a few times.

“I think we broke them. What is your name?”

“Theodore Nott.”

“Alison Rosier.”

“What is your relationship to each other?”

“We’re betrothed.”

“Good. And finally... what is your quest?”

“What?”

“Did I hear that right Steelthorn?”

“Oh good! I was worried you two would be out of it for a few more hours.” I exclaimed happily, returning to my post at the ‘doorway’ to the rest of the library.

“Still, what is your quest? Where’d you get a thing like that?”

“Well in muggle legends Wizards are always either sending heroes on quests or else they’re going on quests themselves.” Hermione postulated.

“Actually I was serious about that one to.”

“Then uh… to finish hogwarts?” Theo tried. I shook my head.

“No, see I overheard a few things between you and your wife-to-be earlier that I want to inquire about.” I said lightly. Theo’s head met the table hard. Repeatedly.

“With him temporarily busy, what letter were you talking about earlier, Miss Rosier? That seemed to be the main thing, though depending on what it said I might need to ask others...”

“Just a letter he got in the mail this morning.” Alison responded tightly.

“And it said what…?” I prompted.

“It was about our situation in house politics.” Theo admitted begrudgingly as he stopped beating his head against the table. I nodded to him as my hand shot out, snatching something from his front pocket. I looked over the parchment with a careful eye as everyone else’s minds caught up with the motion.

“Fancy script, very flowy. Nice colorful seal… I think I might have found something useful here. Once I pick out the legalese, of course.” I mused, looking over the letter, glossing past the names and titles I didn’t understand, as well as most of the filler text that covered the page.

“Do all you wizarding types beat around the bush this much in your letters?” I asked as I analysed the letter.

“Not unless it’s encoded or something similar. Magically cracking codes can be fairly simple so a good code or something else to hide messages is hard to come by.” Tracey said knowledgeably.

“Let me see if I’ve figured it out then. Not counting the titles, legalese, etc. your letter says that house Malfoy cannot be allowed to survive the start of our fifth year, if it does it’ll spell ruin for your houses, both of them, and your main target is Draco while your parents hunt for a way to deal with Lucius, and that a good covert ops person would be invaluable. So, how much did I get right?” I asked lightly, passing the paper to Hermione and Harry, who started looking it over.

“You missed this part. It says that the alliances made here must be kept secret from the Malfoy’s coalition.” Hermione said, tapping a section of the page. I glanced at it and frowned.

“I should hope that would be a given.”

“You got it about right, once you remove the titles etc.” Alison said wonderingly.

“You should really look into a few muggle books on cyphers and encoding things. The hidden message you’re using is so old it’s coming back as valid for them. Then there’s the fact that if you look here, here, and here, you can see that there’s larger spaces between words or letters than there are everywhere else. If you let your eyes go out of focus you can see most of the shape pretty easily. I  _ am _ going to ask how it is that this is considered effective in your circles.” I commented flatly in stark contrast to my spacey smile. Daphne looked over the page and whistled appreciatively.

“It’s nice to know that some Muggle knowledge really does go far. Especially when you're studying forgery and codes.” She commented, passing it back to Theo, who hid it in his pocket again.

“How did you know it was in my pocket? I thought for sure we didn’t give it away.” Theo complained.

“Because you had a piece of parchment sticking out of your pocket and had just mentioned a letter you didn’t want falling into the wrong hands.” I responded blandly, flicking a sheet of parchment in front of my face a few times, wondering how long it would take for anyone to notice.

Predictably, Hermione and Daphne realized first, at about the same time, indicated by the wide grins that suddenly spread across their faces. Harry and Tracey leaned over and whispered something to their respective friends, listened to the answer, and started grinning like a pair of cheshire cats. Eventually Theo and Alison seemed to catch on to the fact that something was happening and looked around more closely.

“How… How did you switch them? I thought for sure I had my eye on it the whole time!” Theo exclaimed. Alisons closed her eyes, thinking.

“It was when you took it from Tracey, wasn’t it? I wondered why you took it from her if you were just going to hand it to My—Theo right after, since he was sitting next to Her.” She said, opening her eyes again.

“I did indeed. Anyone noticed how Daphne’s sheet of hexes for me seems to have disappeared though?” I asked innocently. Alison reached out and removed the parchment from Theo’s pocket and spread it on the table, revealing it to be Daphne’s page of hexes. I set the folded parchment I’d been holding on top of it, unfolding it to reveal the letter with a grin.

“Now, we  _ really  _ shouldn’t leave stuff like this lying around, so…” I glanced around and spotted what I was looking for. A torch was embedded in the wall not far from our current position, so I walked over and burnt the two pages, checking to make sure that each was what it was supposed to be.

“Those aren’t magical flames? What kind of safety rules does the Wizarding world have for schools?” Hermione gasped in a mix of anger and shock.

“Clearly my type of safety rules.” I said gleefully. Hermione growled at me.

“Aaaannnyway, we’re extremely off track here. I believe I asked about what your plans are regarding Malfoy?” I asked, turning to face Theo and Alison.

“Well, in short we need to either kill or permanently incapacitate him.”

“Current plan of action?”

“Pick apart his support structure enough that we can get to him, then take him down with whatever we can. He might not be hard to get to himself, but we have to do it in such a way that their entire group falls apart. Malfoy might be the leader, but taking him out won’t remove the rest of them you see.”

“That’s almost a challenge.” I commented after a moment's thought.

“ALMOST? Look, you clearly don’t understand here. We’re facing the largest power in the government, with the most money, the most… everything, really, and most of them are well trained to defend themselves against people like us, and we can’t even just kill them all, there’s requirements we have to meet first.”

“I see nothing I wasn’t going to do already. It just also requires that when I move it needs to make waves.” I shot back at Theo. By now the others in our group were forgotten.

“So help me I’ll kill you myself if I have to to keep your death wish from ruining what little traction we have!” Theo roared at me. I smirked.

“I really don’t care Nott. You can’t lay a finger on me. Now, if there’s nothing else?”

“No, I don’t think there is anything else you need to know at this time. Thank you.” Alison said smoothly, cutting Theo’s angry retort off before it began. I stepped back, letting them through the space between the shelves, and the pair slipped away after checking to make sure no-one was nearby.

“Now that they’re gone, we can get down to proper business.” I said happily, removing the runes that had let Theo and Alison see the space. With no chance of being spotted by anyone dangerous, I let my spacey smile drop, swapping it for my normal smile, a sideways one that I’d been told implied I was never more than a few steps away from mischief.

“So anything interesting happen over the past few years?” Daphne asked.

“Not really.” Hermione reported. I attempted to mimic Draco’s haughty sneer, to the amusement of my companions.

“I got into a spat with an idiot who thinks he’s important. Or something, I don’t know. I can’t kill him since I made a deal with Snape, but that’s my mistake. Huh, I should have realized that sooner. You four have fun without me for a bit. I need to go make a modification to my bargain with Snape so he doesn’t break the game.” With that I spun on my heel and shot out of the library, following the directions of the paintings and Hogwarts as they were given, moving quickly down to Snape’s office.

The door to Snape’s office blended in fairly well with the other doors, but for the fact that the doorknocker was waving at me. I bowed slightly in thanks to the portrait, unsure as to why I felt that was best, and knocked on the door.

“Enter.” Snape’s voice seemed to ooze through the door. I pushed it open and slipped in, closing it behind me.

“Ah, I see it is our erstwhile poisoner. Tell me, what was the purpose of that display?” Snape asked me. Some might have dismissed his tone as lacking interest. I had long ago learned to look beyond the surface of such things, and heard the faint curiosity that he had hidden so well.

“I can hardly expect Malfoy to reveal our disagreement without driving him to become more reckless. However, I will do nothing so dangerous as to have a serious chance of killing him, that is to say, I will not kill him on purpose until the terms of our agreement have been met. I do need to make a single modification though.”

“Oh?” His tone was slightly wary, but a little bit satisfied, as though he’d been expecting me to say that.

“I must request that you not inform him in any way that, should he not change his attitude, he will die.”

“I will inform him of the dangers inherently involved in holding such an extreme worldview, but no more than that.”

“So long as he is not told that this choice determines how long he lives, I have no quarrel.” I inclined my head and left at Snape’s dismissing gesture.

“I wonder how my friends are getting along. Oh well, only way to find out is to go back to the library and see if they’re still there.” I told Hogwarts as I set off down the hall. There weren’t any noticeable incidents along the way, though I did have to duck out of sight of Filch, the caretaker, once. I’d already been appraised of his undesirable qualities and I was careful to take precautions accordingly. I also found my way to the Library without the need to ask Hogwarts for help, which I found strangely fulfilling.

_ Great, it’s been less than two days and we’re already going insane. _

_ I disagree with you Thorn. We’re already insane. _

_ Oh. right. I forgot that… _ I chuckled at the voices in my head and walked down the shelves of the Library to where I’d left my friends. They were still at the table I’d set up, probably because of the extra protections it had against being interrupted.

“...so then he threw another knife at him. Of course, that one missed to.”

“And by now we were both past them anyway, so Steelthorn just pulled one of his vanishing tricks and led him on a merry chase.”

“And so without anyone to guard their stores we made out like bandits.”

“You mean you weren’t Bandits?” Harry asked innocently.

I laughed, taking up my position at the entrance to the secluded table.

“Regaling our new friends with our past exploits are you?” I asked my two old friends as I sat down.

“Well we have been doing a little of that, but mostly we’ve been studying.  _ Somebody _ insisted that we finish all our schoolwork as soon as possible, even though the first assignment isn’t even due until the end of the week.” Daphne informed me.

“Ah, but of course. I hope you haven’t gone and broken the laws of six dimensional physics or anything Silver.”

“Do you even know what that means?” Hermione asked with a level gaze.

“Nope. Not in the slightest.”

“What exactly did you put into that curse Steelthorn?”

“Mild burns, changing hair color, and a tickling sequence from when I tried to use runes to guard some of the buildings with them, since I didn’t want an accidental death.” I supplied.

“And of course you couldn’t put those burns in less awkward places?”

“I put them in specific places because normally I write it so my targets are burnt to death because of it. It's hard to get caught for killing a pile of ashes .” I responded sharply.

“Ah. I see. Anything else we should know about life in general?”

“Well, we were planning on investigating the third floor corridor this saturday, if you’re interested.” I directed the second part of my statement to Daphne and Tracey, who each gave me strange looks.

“So what’s the plan?”

“What part of ‘very painful death’ didn’t imply that you should avoid it?”

“Trace, something labeled very painful death is practically an invitation for Steelthorn to investigate, if only so he can then tell everyone how it wasn’t really all that painful when they see his ghost.” Daphne explained to her friend.

“And that’s not counting the fact that  _ everyone _ will want to know what’s behind the door after they’ve been told it’s forbidden. I’ll bet you any amount you want to name that Whatever’s behind that door, or at least what’s directly behind it, is common knowledge by the end of the week.” I continued.

“And if anyone took that bet they’d be paupers in a week and to hell with the chance that he won’t be able to use the money either.” Daphne grumbled. I laughed and held out one hand to her. She took it and we shook hands, grinning at each other.

“It’s nice to see you again, despite that you’re still an insufferable little bastard.”

“And you as well, though I must admit you’ve been doing better with that ‘ice queen’ look. I was almost sure you had every male in slytherin frozen. But then again, even your stare can’t keep some of them from eating it seems. Pity you can’t get that stare of death to work on everyone who looks at you, that would be a powerful weapon indeed.” I ducked as she took a half hearted swipe at me.

“Pity I couldn’t have frozen the most annoying one at least. Come here Silver.” Daphne let go of my hand and wrapped her arms around Hermione and the two hugged tightly before sitting back down, grinning at each other.

“Alright so now to the real meeting. Theo and Alison are our… backers, shall we say. They are looking for certain things and if we need something to get it done, we can ask them to try and get it if we can’t get it ourselves.” Daphne started, well aware of which bits we needed to know first.

“Furthermore, we’re going to need to find a place to teach you how to be a noble, Heir Potter. As the only known heir to the Peverell line, the Potter line, and the Heir presumptive to the House of black, you are, by yourself, one of the most powerful members of political britain. Had anything gone the way it should have with your life, you would have been trained in a great many things by now. Instead though, we need to make up for lost time.”

“I… I what? No, there’s no way I’m that important, I’m just… just Harry.” The boy protested in quiet shock.

“Neither your heritage nor your fame for having defeated You-Know-Who will care for that, true as it may or may not be.” Tracey pointed out gently.

“That aside until we find a more appropriate place to do it, we should probably hold off on teaching you most of the things that most purebloods and half bloods will know that you three won’t since you weren’t raised around magic, such as affinities.” Daphne continued.

“Affinity? That wasn’t mentioned in any of our school books.” Hermione perked up.

“It wouldn’t be. It’s part of world magic, something we don’t study here at Hogwarts for unknown reasons. I’m not as well read on it as I should be, to be honest, but it’s not hard to understand the basics, which are all you’ll need for now. In a year or so, once we’re more in tune with our magic, we’ll figure out our affinities. We’ll go over what affinities are later, if you don’t just research them yourselves.” Daphne explained with a slight grimace.

“Well it’s not like I’ll be surprised, Somehow I get the feeling it’s going to involve runes for me.” I said, rolling my eyes slightly. 

“In summary of what we’ve discussed, here’s what I’ve got. First, we need to figure out what Theo and Alison want from us. Second, we should figure out what’s up with the third floor corridor. Third, we need to find a place to teach Harry how to be a noble and otherwise get up to no good. Did I miss anything?”

“Not as far as I can tell, Trace?”

“Nothing here either.” Tracey agreed. I narrowed my eyes for an instant, but held off on asking.

_ Can we bug them into telling us what they want? _

_ Depends. Do you want the answers as soon as possible, or when they finally snap? _

_ ASAP. _

_ Then no, no we can’t. _

_ Aww... _

“Alright then. Final point. Communication. We need some way to communicate without drawing suspicion. Thieves cant isn’t going to cut it for everything, and we probably can’t just walk over and talk to each other since everything seems so Cloak and dagger with you Slytherins, and the Gryffindors would probably freak out if either of us so much as breathed near you three.” Hermione said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “So that means we need some other method. Ideas?”

“I’ve got a rune sequence that can listen over distances, but it’ll need some fine-tuning before we can use it. I’d say I’ll finish anywhere between two weeks and two months, depending on what else I’m doing. Between now and then though, passing notes is a fairly good basic one.”

“Well that’s something. Other ideas?”

“Dead drops usually work alright, but between the house elves and the moving castle, I don’t think they’d work very well for this.”

“We could just send each other letters.” Harry offered.

“Hmm. Maybe, maybe. We couldn’t send them over breakfast, since somebody else might read it, and we’d need a method of delivering them, since people might notice if school owls started delivering to students.”

“So we’ll think about it over the week and discuss it further on saturday. I’m thinking that after breakfast we head to the corridor, let the other adventurous souls depart, then head in ourselves.” I suggested.

“Since the other adventurous souls, as you call them, probably won’t be nearly as curious as you are when you don’t care, I can see that working just fine.” Hermione joked.

“What are house elves? You mentioned them as part of the reason dead drops won’t work, but I don’t know what they are. Now I think about it, I don’t know what dead drops are either.”

“Good question Harry.”

“And one that can wait. It’s getting late so if we don’t want to break curfew we should head out quickly.” Daphne answered, rising from her seat. The others followed her lead and they filtered out of the library, putting on a convincing act of dislike as they left the Library.

“I imagine there’s all sorts of interesting stuff around here, eh Hogwarts? To bad it’ll have to wait until later, since I don’t yet know how to avoid breaking Curfew. Pity really, it’d be nice to have a few hours without being disturbed. I should also look into communicating with you better. I figure it could be handy, should you ever need help, to be able to explain things to people better.” I stood up and stretched slightly, dismissing the runic sequences that had covered the bookshelves and the table, though I left the listening runes. They might be useful later. Around me, the castle light flared brightly for a moment before returning to normal.

_ Huh. haven’t seen that one before. _

_ I’mma guess it’s an affirmative, since we didn’t get killed by random act of magic castle. _

_ I am inclined to agree. _ The voices in my head continued on in that vein for a while as I walked down to the Slytherin common room.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ah flying. what a lovely, safe, pleasant time that first lesson was... oh who am I kidding? this is Hogwarts I'm talking about. Peaceful and safe are on the list of terms that can't be used within a four hundred mile radius.  
> Also, Madame Pomfrey is annoying sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Underlined text is Theives cant (the hand signal version)  
> Italics are probably thoughts  
> If there are any mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out.

 

 

On Wednesday the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years were assembled in the courtyard next to a bunch of broomsticks. Madam Hooch, the flight instructor, instructed us to line up next to a broom. With something on the order of twenty or thirty children, this took a little while. Eventually however we were lined up next to our brooms.

“First, put your hand over your broom and, in a firm voice, say ‘up!’ Don’t be too firm or you might get struck by the broom, too weakly, however, and it won’t come up at all.” Madame hooch called.

_Gee, how helpful._

“UP!” the class called. My broom shot into my hand, rocking slightly as I tested the balance of it in my hand. As I did I noticed Hermione and Daphne having a quick exchange in thieves’ cant.

“What if I’d rather not be flying?” 

“Then it’ll take you longer to get your broom up”  Daphne replied. Hermione did not look happy with the response, but continued trying to get her broom up. After a few tries everyone had their brooms in their hands and was waiting for Madam Hooch to tell us what to do next.

“Now, sit on your broom and grip it tightly, like so.” She instructed us, holding up her own broom so we could see.

 _When did she get a broom? I distinctly remember that she didn’t have one earlier._ I pushed the thought away for the time being and got into position on my broom, both hands holding the broom tightly.

“Now, when flying, you will use your hands to steer by pushing the front end of your broom in the direction you wish to go. To stop, you slide one hand towards you, while to accelerate you slide one hand forward. Now gently lift your feet up and practice turning your broom.” She continued.

I lifted my feet up and shortly found it to be very similar to spinning (or trying to stop spinning) while hanging from a rope so I applied similar techniques and managed to control my spinning more or less without too much difficulty after a bit of trial and error. As far as Muggleborns went I was one of the luckiest though.

Hermione was having difficulty controlling her broom, likely because of her unwillingness to actually fly, and was spinning in circles clockwise and anticlockwise at varying speeds, but eventually even she got her broom under control. Harry it seemed, was a natural and second only to many of the pure blooded children, who had likely already been flying before.

“Now, put your feet back on the ground and on my whistle we will kick off and into the air. Three! two ! one!” Her whistle sounded shrilly and we all kicked off the ground. Problems became instantly obvious.

_Maybe it would have been smart not to be in two lines FACING each other?_

_What a genius observation Sherlock. Best get moving. Down seems safe since everyone else is going up._ I angled myself downwards and slid under the larger Hufflepuff across from me, pulling in tight against the broom and rolling over to give myself enough room, feeling my robe drag along the grass as I passed him. Once I turned right side up I was outside the line and had gained some flying space. I smiled and slide one hand forward on my broom as I’d been instructed, a devilish smile on my lips.

 _Let’s see what flying is really like, who knows, maybe we’ll find something interesting._ I shot forward, spinning around as I turned upwards, noting how much easier it was to control my broom when it was moving. Draco looked annoyed that any non-pureblood had made it off the ground despite that it literally only required that we jump while holding the thing, and Hermione looked to be doing better now that she was actually in the air.

 _Guess she hasn’t gotten rid of her anxiety yet has she? Her fear of heights remains though, weak as it is. And Win… Daphne seems a bit… unsure of herself. Odd. She’s enjoying it and was quite eager for flying lessons, and I would assume she’s flown before, why wouldn’t she have? She_ is _a pureblood after all._ I narrowed my eyes, gliding closer to a bit of commotion between some of the other students.

“Do you know how to do anything right Longbottom? Honestly, you’re worse than the Mudbloods.”

I glared at the speaker’s back for a moment as the voices in my head argued.

_Do not get caught, do not get involved._

_We’re trying to tear this little group apart, aren’t we?_

_True..._

“I- Ooof!” whatever the boy had been about to say was cut off as the girl rammed him off his broom. I glowered at the girl, trying to remember the names of the two assailants as I glided away, not really paying attention to where I was going.

“Oops. Should have stayed out of my way Longbottom.” Came a harsh, mocking voice.

_We just need an opening don’t we? Something that’ll let us kill them if at all possible._

_Of course, if we do kill her, not getting caught might be hard. Real pity that._

_Right. Well do something since she’s going for Harry and Hermione. I’ll come up with ways around that issue. It might take a while though..._  I paused in the air for a moment as I realized what one of the two… (had it been Thorn that time? I wasn’t sure) had made an observation regarding something I hadn’t been paying attention to and shot forward, squeezing every last bit of speed I could from the broom. Despite that I instinctively knew it wasn’t going to be enough. I kept going anyway, trying to figure out some way to move faster.

_Well how does this thing work? It’s just a broom but there’s something on it that makes it fly. What is that thing, and why isn’t there an automatic no-crashing spell on these things?_

_Permanent spells, they start weakening after a year or two which is why these old brooms are of varying speeds and performances even though they are the same models. It was in her lecture before we came out here. As for the no-crashing spell, If such a thing even exists, I doubt it’s still in effect by now._

_So how does one make something using those move faster? And why not runes? They don’t wear off, and in the event that they do, another burst of magic and you’re good as new._

_Same way you upgrade runes performance, supercharge them. Or so I assume. As for the second, no idea. Probably because then people would be better or worse fliers based off their magical abilities._

_And how do you charge them?_

_I don’t know, but I expect you could just pump magic into them and call it good. Who knows, maybe — WHOA!_  I wasn’t sure if that last part was a thought or an actual exclamation as the magic I had started pushing into the broom found something to attach itself to and sent my broom rocketing forward. My plan worked perfectly, except for the part where I forgot about inertia, which saw me plummeting to the ground from fifty feet up as my broom shot towards Millicent and Pansy, who were flying together towards Harry and Hermione.

 _Yup, that worked. A bit too well, I might add. Huh, I guess it still did it’s job, to bad it didn’t do it right._ I noted that the duo who had been aiming for Harry and hermione were now flying off in wildly different directions, completely out of control. My broom had struck Millicent directly, sending her flying off her broom. The two riderless brooms had then gone spinning off in random directions. One of the two had hit Pansy a good one and sent her tumbling to the ground as well. I didn’t have time to check where the three riderless brooms were going on account of the ground getting rapidly closer. I pulled two specific knives from my robe and threw them.

 _This is going to hurt._ The first knife hit the wall and a black and silver chain shot from it to me and pulled me towards the tower, changing my momentum drastically. I canceled the runes and the knife flew back to me from the wall, though my momentum was not halted so I continued moving towards the stone wall, though I was moving in an arc now.

The second knife struck the wall to my right, it’s magical rope coiled around my hand. With all of the forces combined I went flying off to the side as the rope tightened before I canceled that knifes runes as well, pulling it back to me. I slammed into the ground in a roll, feeling a snap that I was fairly sure meant pain in the near future. Once I finished rolling I took a quick self evaluation.

 _Skull is still intact, though I suspect one ear to be bleeding… yes, yes it is. Spine… fully functional, nearly 360_ _o_ _movement, though it is possible that it has one or more fractures after the amount of force going through it. Arms are in mostly normal condition, though I will have some nasty bruises. Legs… either fractured or broken, though I can’t tell which._

_I’m  quite annoyed that I have to share the pain of your choices with you. They weren’t my choices, why should I suffer for them?_

_You are a selfish, sarcastic idiot._

_That doesn’t explain why I have to deal with your choices!_ I ignored the voices in my head as they debated the morality and logic of having both personalities suffer the other’s pain and scanned the crowd of students to see what they were looking at. Harry and Tracey looked to be having the hardest time of my group, both were straining against themselves to keep from running over and seeing how I was doing, though the rest were doing a fairly good impression of uncaring.

How are you?

Both legs are broken, cut ear, and it’s likely I have multiple fractures all over. Generally painful. _Or at least it will be._

Eventually Hooch finished fussing over the girl my broom had hit, turning towards Harry, who had tapped her shoulder and was pointing my way. She quickly made her way over to me, a severe look on her face.

“What happened?” She inquired, waving her wand around in a complex pattern. I snorted.

“Not sure how I fell off, but apparently my broom hit hers afterwards, if I understand everything properly. How am I going to get to the hospital wing? Because I doubt that you’ve got… whatever spell you’d need to fix this just sitting on the tip of your tongue, and I’m fairly sure that walking will be a bad plan for me for a while yet.” I replied pointedly. She nodded and flicked her wand, levitating me into the air and setting me on a magical stretcher before picking somebody at random from the crowd to take me up while She saw to Pansy and the Gryffindor. I was quite fortunate that she picked Daphne rather than one of the Slytherins who actually hated my guts.

 _Then again, it_ is _Winter..._

“So how’d you pull all of that off? I saw most of it, but… I was distracted by other things.” She finished lamely. I nodded.

“I noticed. Can we please hurry? I can’t feel everything that I broke yet but I can’t imagine it won’t be pleasant when I do feel it.”

“Father never let me or Astoria fly. Tracy can but only because she is a Ward and therefore has looser restrictions.” She said, a distinctly jealous look on her face as she started walking faster. I frowned, wondering exactly what the distinction was.

“Well, I saw… Whatever that girl's name is, Milly?”

“Millicent”

“Whatever. The big, dumb, splat on the ground. Her.” Daphne rolled her eyes at my designation for her, but kept walking. “I saw her bodily slam that Gryffindor off his broom when Hooch wasn’t looking then head straight for Harry and Hermione. So I decided I was going to adjust their flight path a bit so she missed, but then I realized I was to far away so…” I stopped, deciding I did not like the probable outcomes of telling her the rest of the story. She pushed against one of my injured legs none to gently as we passed another door.

“So…?” She prompted as I winced. It seemed that whatever was keeping me from feeling everything had a limit on how much it could block out.

“I made the broom go faster. Somehow. I’m fairly sure I overcharged it.” I allowed. She stared at me for a second before she burst out in hysterical laughter. Madam Pomfrey bustled over, giving Daphne an annoyed look as she started checking me over.

“I cut my ear somehow, and possibly fractured my spine. Oh, and I probably broke my legs.” I told her, wincing as some of the feeling started coming back to my legs. Madam Pomfrey stared at me for a second before levitating me onto a bed and beginning the process of fixing me up. Daphne finally recovered from her laughing fit, leaning heavily on the bedside table next to me.

“No wonder you fell off you idiot! Nobody ever charges a broom without special equipment, and for good reason! Permanent spells behave very irrationally when you try it, and on one that’s five or more years old? Forget it, you’re lucky you only fell off the thing.” She ranted. Madam Pomfrey froze in her spellcasting and turned to face me, her face dangerously still.

“Am I to understand that you tried to put more power into a school broom?” I nodded timidly.

“To be entirely Fair Madam Pomfrey, he was trying to keep Millicent Bulstrode from assaulting Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Not that it excuses his idiocy…” I caught Daphne’s hand this time before it hit me as Madam Pomfrey turned and walked to the doors.

“I’ll be back in five minutes for whatever is left of you when Young Lady Greengrass is finished venting. And please do leave something left for me to attempt to fix, Heiress.” She called, pointedly closing the doors behind her. I turned my attention back to Daphne and sighed.

“Very well, let’s get this over with shall we.” I let go of her hand and sighed, giving her a resigned stare. Daphne’s eyes were icy cold, but also burned with an immeasurable fury before she exploded, punching me for all she was worth, the look in her eyes morphing into what Silver and I called ‘the icy death glare’ which was, in our opinion, a form of torture in and of itself.

“DAMN YOU Steelthorn I can’t believe that you would do something so stupid! I know that you aren’t a Pureblood so you weren’t taught that permanent spells are dangerous if you mess with them! But it’s on the second page of the book!” She paused for a moment, breathing slowly. I rubbed my face gently then gave Daphne a bored look.

“Are you through yet?” I asked calmly, knowing what the answer would be.

“Not even close!”

|~~~~~|

 

I have omitted the rant that followed to avoid dyeing the entire book blue.

There was also quite a bit of beating involved.

—Steelthorn

 

|~~~~~|

 

“...Do you understand?” Daphne asked, having burnt out her anger.

“I understood the first time. Don’t mess with magic if I don’t understand it.” I recited. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around me tightly, still slightly out of breath from her rant.

“I thought for sure you were going to kill yourself when you did all that. Promise me you’ll never do anything like that again. I don’t know if I could take it if I lost you or Silver again.” She whispered. I felt something warm and wet on me. It felt strange, like I should know what it was, even though I didn’t. Eventually I hugged her back carefully, trying not to move my legs, which hurt a whole lot more now that I could feel them.

“I doubt I’d live long with a peaceful life.” I told her.

_Hugging after getting beaten basically black and blue. I’d say that’s nice if it didn’t HURT SO MUCH!_

_For once we agree. Bruises typically hurt_ more _when you apply pressure, and a hug certainly does that. Not to mention the now-absolutely-broken ribs._

_Yeah. we’ll have to thank her for that._

“Can you at least promise to try not to give any of us heart attacks?” she asked, her eyes meeting mine.

“I don’t make promises. You know that.” I responded. She let go and punched me again.

“Yes you do. But I know what you mean” She replied in a tone that could almost be mistaken for caring. Almost.

Madame Pomfrey chuckled, looking on from the stool she’d seated herself on when she walked in near the end of Daphne’s rant. I almost laughed as Daphne shot nearly a foot in the air.

“Drink this. You’ve got yourself a fine young lady there Steelthorn, don’t you dare disappoint her.” Madame Pomfrey said, pushing a potion into my hands. I was very glad I hadn’t been drinking the potion just then because I would have spewed it all over the hospital bed I was lying in.

“We’re friends. And that might be stretching the meaning of the word, since I’m fairly sure friends don’t plot each other’s death.” I hissed stiffly.

“Even the more vicious alliances in the wizengamot probably don’t have as many possible deaths planned for each other as we do.” Daphne added, pulling her ‘ice queen’ mask over her features.

“Of course you are, of course you are.” Madame Pomfrey responded knowingly. I decided not to press the issue since I really couldn’t bring myself to care enough about it just now and swallowed the potion she handed me in several quick gulps. Once I’d forced myself to swallow the last gulp I scratched at my tongue, trying to get the taste off of it.

“Nasty stuff, isn’t it? Not nearly as bad as Skele-gro though. Now that’s a nasty concoction if ever there was one. It might be meant for healing, but drinking it could be used as a form of torture.” Madame Pomfrey told me as she bustled back to the shelves and measured out another potion. This one tasted sickeningly sweet with a hint of fruit, though I wasn’t sure what kind.

“What kind of potions were those?” I asked as I felt the pain recede and a general numbness filled my system. Madame Pomfrey was standing above me, waving her wand in complex motions and muttering under her breath.

“The first one was a bone mending potion, which will take a few more minutes to act, and the second one was a pain numbing potion. Now hold still while I make sure nothing else is wrong with you.”

I remained as still and quiet as I could, realizing that even if I’d wanted ot I probably couldn’t move because I was mostly numb.

The Hospital wing door opened and Madame hooch came in with three floating Stretchers trailing behind her. One one was the Gryffindor, on the other two were Millicent and Pansy, both of whom seemed to be in pretty back shape, though I suspected that I looked far worse than they did.

“I see Miss Greengrass wasn’t lying when she said there was a pretty big accident on the pitch today.” Madame Pomfrey observed. Madame Hooch shook her head ruefully.

“Mr. Thorn’s broom went out of control and threw him off before crashing into Miss Bulstrode, who was knocked into Miss Parkinson. I’m not entirely sure when Mr. Longbottom fell off his broom, but he can’t have fallen far, seeing as he doesn’t seem to have been badly injured. Now I need to get out there before anything else happens.” She informed Madam Pomfrey before setting the three students on beds and almost running out the door.

“I must ask one question though. Why did she send you up alone, Steelthorn?” The Medi-witch asked quietly, giving the closing doors a pointed look before tending to the other students. I had to admit she had a point. I’d have to look into that.

From my position I had a fairly good view out one of the windows in the castle, which gave me a direction to point my loathing that I’d been dumb enough to get involved. Outside the sun was shining, leaves were waving in a gentle breeze, a few clouds drifted by lazily in the sky. I gave the window a withering glare. It remained unwithered, despite the pure loathing I directed at it.

_And of course we’re locked up in a hospital bed on such a lovely day._

_For once we agree. It’s bad enough that we’re stuck inside for classes for most of the day and we can’t take all the books we need from the Library out when we’re doing our homework._

_I suppose that it’s nice to have a roof sometimes when it rains, but could we please be allowed outside more?_

_So long as you’re sticking to the_ sometimes _part of when it rains. I don’t want to stay inside every time it rains._ Something shot straight down past the window I was glaring at, a momentary flash of flight off… something, followed by a streak of black and scarlet against the blue sky before it was gone again. I frowned and looked at the other three occupants in the room, who were staring at the window next to me.

“I guess that I wasn’t just hallucinating then.” I said flatly. Unsurprisingly, none of my companions responded. The two slytherins would probably not have been willing to take my hand if it was all that could save them from a fiery death, much less talk to me. As for the gryffindor… He was asleep. If I had to guess, He’d been dosed with a sleeping draught because Pomfrey had grown tired of his quiet moaning.

_I wonder what the streak was._

_Doesn’t much matter Thorn. We’ll find out when we get out of here, if somebody doesn’t visit first. You know how the rumor mill is._

_Good point._

The Hogwarts rumor mill was almost instant in its speed, and even somebody like me who only passively listened to passing gossip learned a lot more than most people would think. There was already talk of a Cerberus behind the door in the third floor corridor, and it hadn’t even been a full week, which I found to be poor planning on Dumbledore’s part, since he should know better than to forbid a bunch of teenagers from going anywhere. Pushing that issue out of my mind for the time being, I turned my attention to observing the hospital wing more carefully.

The room itself somehow felt sterilized, as though everything was permanently under the effects of a cleaning spell. Neat white cabinets lined the walls, and equally white counter and sink took up much of the space from about waist to shoulder height, while the walls themselves were the same yellow-brown stone of the rest of the castle.

Madam Pomfrey nodded once, having gone over each of us in turn, and released Longbottom to his next class. Naturally, he asked after when we would be released and what condition we were in besides worse than his own. I had no doubt that the rumor mill would be filled with stories about exactly what had happened and how badly we had been hurt by dinner.

“Miss Parkinson will be able to be released around dinner time, as the damage to her bones was actually quite low. I suspect she landed on Miss Bulstrode, who has several broken ribs and enough fractures that I doubt even Professor Vector could count them all. Miss Bulstrode should be able to leave sometime midday tomorrow. As for Mr. Thorn, he should be able to leave once the numbing potion wears off.”  A few minutes later I was swiftly growing bored since there was precious little to do in the Hospital wing. Eventually a thought struck me, whether placed there by one of my mental voices or by random happenstance, I recalled a specific tidbit from a medical text I’d attempted to read once.

“Madame Pomfrey, did you have to swear the hippocratic oaths before you became a healer? Muggle healers do to, but I don’t think they’re the same oaths.”

Part of why I asked was genuine curiosity, but it was mostly to relieve the boredom I was suffering. I’d already identified all entrances and exits, where any improvised weapons would be, best places to hide from intruders depending on which entrances were used, and I didn’t have enough motor control to do much else.

“We do. It is required before you can even begin your apprenticeship as a healer. And you are probably correct, the muggle hippocratic oaths are unlikely to be the same as ours, though they are likely to be similar, as the goal of all healers should be the same.” She responded before looking over one of the two girls. I stretched and yawned before I realized I could feel my limbs again.

“Hey! The potion’s worn off. Does that mean I can go now?”

“Wait a little bit longer so I can check on you and make sure that you healed up properly.”

After a few diagnostic charms She agreed that I was well enough to be excused from the hospital wing and sent me on my way.

  


|~~~~~|

  
  


“I can’t believe that _Potter_ got away with it! It’s like it didn’t even happen for him.”

“Not to mention that you lost us some house points, Drakey.” I added, rubbing salt into the wound just a little bit. Draco’s rendition of the events that had transpired while I was in the hospital wing was laughable as he attempted to paint himself in a good light despite having failed in every possible way. He growled at me in response. Ignoring him, I turned over the events in my head.

First Draco had found something of the Gryffindor’s—Longbottom’s—and taken flight with it even though they’d been forbidden to take off until Madame hooch came back. Harry had attempted to take it back and the two had had an impromptu battle in the air before Draco threw it. Harry had caught it after what was apparently a highly impressive dive. Madame Hooch had returned shortly after and things would have gone on without anyone being the wiser if McGonagall hadn’t been looking out a window over the courtyard and seen everything.

Harry had been rushed off quickly after Draco had been told off by both professors and lost a full hundred points and been given detention. After that nobody was sure what had happened to Harry, but since he was in the Great Hall and didn’t seem to have been expelled, from the distinctly happy look on his face, the general assumption was that Harry ‘boy-who-lived’ Potter had gotten off because of his fame or because of Dumbledore’s intervention.

If it had only been the Slytherins who thought it was the second I would have dismissed it out of hand as a theory born of jealousy, but it seemed to be the most widely accepted theory and had been started in Ravenclaw of all places. The fact that it was one of the ‘neutral’ houses that believed that Dumbledore was capable of such a thing made me wary of the man.

_There are many people we will need to add to our black book before the end of the year. We should probably start filling it out soon._

_Many indeed Steel. And I suspect that in so doing we will need to learn much about wizarding politics._

_As distasteful as politics may be, that does seem to be unfortunately true. As soon as dinner is over we shall retire and begin the many entries we need._

_Bugger. Now I think about it, do we really have to learn politics?_

_Yes, Thorn. At least enough to understand why all the Purebloods act the way they do. And stop cursing, it just wastes time._


	10. Third floor corridor I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we began the first of several expeditions into the forbidden corridor on the third floor.
> 
> Also as it happens, trolls are bad monsters to fight without knowing they're there. Or something, I dunno.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait, I hit writers block and Life happened, which delayed my editing of this section. The last few paragraphs still feel rushed, but I'm getting sick of staring at them.

“So what do we have on Cerberus's?” Daphne whispered apprehensively.

“Don’t look at me, I was making other preparations.” I responded in a hushed whisper, studying the door down the hall. Dumbledore had said the third floor corridor was off limits, but the door that was actually marked as off limits lead into what was probably an unused classroom.

“There’s not much in the school library on them, and I can’t remember much more from our lessons. They were used as guardians for a long time, highly successful at it to, but then they got rare enough that that practice was given up. Overall though, nothing that’ll help us get past it.” Tracey whispered, pressing herself against the wall.

“Only thing we found was that in Muggle mythology Cerberus was put to sleep by music. Not to say that’s for lack of effort.” Hermione said as the two Gryffindors walked up.

“You’re late.” Tracey observed.

“Sorry, we had to lose Ron. I swear, it’s like that boy has a tracking charm on me or something.” Harry explained as Hermione peeked around the corner at the door we were about to enter. We might have been preparing for it in our own ways, but that didn’t prevent the anxiety most people felt during these things.

“I dislike that boy. Ronald is brash, loud, arrogant, and entitled. It also might be wise to learn how to detect and remove tracking charms and the like. They can’t be put on a person directly, but most objects, clothes included, are open.” Tracey cautioned.

_I’m surprised He’s done enough research to know about tracking charms. He didn’t seem the type._

_He doesn’t. But Silver is his research partner, remember?_

“I think I picked one of those old fashioned wind-up music boxes a while ago, it’s down in my dorms though.” I offered, since the rest of the group had fallen silent.

“Next time we decide to do anything like this, we’re making a better plan you bastard.” Daphne hissed angrily. I shrugged, dismissing her displeasure as I slipped over to the door and set about picking the lock. It took less time than I’d expected.

“Huh, purely magic based lock. If I’d known that I would have spent more time looking into this.” I commented as the lock fell away from the door the moment I activated the newest runes on my picks.

“What did you do to the lock? That shouldn’t have let Muggle picks do anything to it. _Colloportus_ is a magical lock, not a mundane lock, it doesn’t have anything for you to pick.”

“Callo-what?”

“It’s the magical locking charm. Honestly, I thought you said you read all our books. Something like that should have gotten your attention right away Steelthorn.”

“Oh. Is _that_ how you pronounce it. No wonder I couldn’t get my trunk to lock properly.” I commented, replacing my lockpicks and pressing my ear to the door. I did it more from instinct than because I thought I might hear anything useful. A huge three headed dog would probably cover the sound of anything else in the room, if it wasn’t busy barking at it.

“We’ll discuss experimenting with spells later. For now we’ll leave it at ‘extremely dangerous and likely to result in explosions’ and move on. Now, as I believe I already asked, how in Merlin’s name did you break the locking charm so easily?” Daphne growled.

“A week’s worth of work on runic sequences gave me a rune that lets me remove a bit of magic from whatever it’s touching when it activates. Not quite what I was going for, but it works.” I said, pulling my head away from the door.

“Daphne, am I allowed to be impressed yet?” Tracey asked with a distinct note of awe in her voice. I glanced at Daphne and we shook our heads.

“Not until after we finish this.” We replied in unison. Before Tracey could ask further before I pushed the door open. Hermione started singing. It sounded like a lullaby, which I supposed was fitting. On the other side of the door was a massive three headed dog. It seemed that until it had heard Hermione’s singing it had been pacing the room. It was asleep now, but it’s heads were covering most of the doorway.

_That could be problematic._

_Nobody was saying that because it was obvious Thorn!_

_Hey hey hey, I’m the sarcastic one, remember?_

_Well we’ve got other things to do, like make sure we don’t get licked by a sleeping… whatever he is._ It took about one second for all these thoughts to fly through my head. It took only slightly longer for the dog to fall asleep. I slipped past the dog, hoping that whatever it was I smelled of didn’t wake the thing. Daphne was close behind me. Outside the door Hermione had her eyes closed while Harry and Tracey stared in a mix of fear and shock at the dog. Daphne sighed, rubbing at the bridge of her nose.

“Occlumency Trace. Honestly. It’s good for more than just keeping out legilimency.”

“Oh. R-right.” Tracey closed her eyes for a second, breathing deeply, evening out her breathing. Eventually she opened her eyes again and made her way past the dog, carefully squeezing through the door to stay as far from the dog as possible.

Once inside the room I started systematically searching for anything noteworthy. I completed my search about the same time Daphne got Harry and Hermione through the door. Tracey had taken over singing once Daphne got her in, but she seemed a bit strained, as though she was having difficulty ignoring the fact that the dog would eat her if she stopped.

_If you think about it though, that’s a valid reason to have difficulty._

_I suppose..._

“We’ve got one large trapdoor so obvious a drunken troll shouldn’t be able to miss it.” I reported, quite disappointed in what I’d found.

“Any sign of magic?” Daphne responded.

“Am I the one who grew up with the stuff?” I asked pointedly.

“Yes, you are.”

“Not what I meant and you know it!” I hissed, swiping at her.

“I’ll try and get these two to snap out of it, you see what you can see, and please tell me you brought water because Tracey’s going to need it once we get out of here.”

“I do have that in here. I made sure I had all the basics.” I confirmed, patting my bag. Daphne nodded and walked over to where Hermione and Harry were partially frozen in fear. I lifted the trapdoor and peered down into the darkness below, trying to make out anything in the darkness.

“Please tell me you know a light spell because my torches don’t work here.” I said, still looking down the hole.

“I do, it’s Lumos.” Hermione said, a little shakily, moving up to look under the trapdoor with me. A second later her wand tip lit up, casting a bright light into the pit. It didn’t reach the bottom, but it was bright enough for me to pick out the walls around the trapdoor. Each one was about one or two metres from the trapdoor.

“It’s the little things, isn’t it? Pity I forgot to think of light that would work around magic.” I told nobody in particular before sticking one of my knives in the trapdoor and activating some of the runes. A semi-transparent rope of silver and black strands uncoiled from the knife handle and tumbled down into the darkness. From the faint red glow it cast off I could see that it was nearly at the end of my rope, though there was still some rope coiled on the floor at the bottom. I slid down the rope, slowing my fall as I reached the edge of Hermione’s light and looked down. I still had a long way to go until the floor. Something about it was setting my instincts on edge though. The voices in my head had started discussing the issue though, so I continued on my way down the rope, keeping a close eye on how far things seemed to be from where I was.

_The floor looks… how far down from here would you say Thorn?_

_About… ten, twenty stories, why do you ask Steel?_

_Just confirming something…  above us, Silver looks to be about… another fifteen or twenty stories?_

_Thereabouts. Isn’t that longer than our rope is?_

_Yes. So the only thing I can think of is that magic is in play here. Not sure what it’s doing besides making things seem too far away though._

I hit the ground lightly, releasing the rope, which instantly vanished, coiling back up into the knife, and cut a rune similar to the one I’d used in the library at the beginning of the week into the ground. I reached into my bag and started rummaging around to find one of my torches, just in case we were far enough away from any significant sources of magic that they would start working.

“Alright, it’s safe to come down now. Maybe try pushing Tracey down, so she doesn’t decide to take her chances with the dog, and come down with her to keep her quiet. You might want to wait until Daphne and Harry are down though, unless either of them can sing.” I called up to Hermione. The light on the end of her wand bobbed once and vanished. A moment later a form fell through the trapdoor. I activated the runic sequence on the floor and stepped back to stay out of the possible falling zone. A while later Harry landed on the ground and stepped clear.

“Come on down!” He called, then turned towards me, just barely illuminated by the glow of the runic sequences on the floor.

“I don’t suppose you have a light?” He asked hopefully.

I shook my head before realizing he probably couldn’t tell what I was doing.

“No. None of my torches work here. I checked.”

Our last two companions landed easily and I quickly removed the runes, not wanting to leave behind any more signs we’d been here than I had to. The knife in the trapdoor fell the the ground, the rope that had been attached to it vanishing into nothing. I picked it up and we held a short council to determine who could cast the lumos spell so we could search the room faster. Based off the Trapdoor I wasn’t expecting anything else to be very well hidden, but we should still check.

“Alright, so in total we’ve got three people who can cast the charm and two who can’t. I guess that means either Silver or Winter are on their own and the other is with Harry. That way we get groups of people who have been trained to find things better alongside people with lights. Or something like that anyway...” I trailed off as I realized just how badly arrayed we were. Thus far, Tracey and Harry had been more than willing to help, but with the exception of having a talented singer, they really hadn’t been able to contribute much.

“Tracey, you’re with Steelthorn. Hermione, you’re with Harry. I’ll go by myself.” Daphne decided, lighting the tip of her wand and starting off. The rest of us followed suit. The room itself was fairly large, though the ceiling was only a few metres to a side.

“Steelthorn, can I ask you something?” Tracey asked hoarsely as I studied a section of the stone that seemed irregular.

“Seeing as how you just did, I don’t see how I can keep you from doing so.” I responded idly, extracting a bottle of water from my bag and passing it to her.

“Um… Okay… I was wondering how you and Daphne could just ignore the Cerberus like that. No fear whatsoever, even though it was so big and loud and it probably would have torn you apart and eaten you.” She gave the bottle an odd look and started trying to figure out how to open the thing.

“It’s a trick I learned a long time ago. I don’t really know how to explain it, but I just… don’t feel emotions normally. I can sort of turn them on and off. I’m not sure how or why, but if they’re getting in the way, I can mostly block them out.” I said, hoping that would been enough of an explanation for her. I really didn’t have a better one, and telling her that wasn’t going to change much. She would probably know I could do that soon enough anyway.

“So then why didn’t Hermione do that?”

“She never learned how. I only figured out how to do it because I was slowly going insane and it was the only way I could keep me me. Daphne… I don’t know how she was able to learn it. But Hermione? Neither of us could teach her very well, and our methods were so conflicting that even if she’d been able to understand either of us I imagine that everything one of us did would be undone by listening to the other.” I shook my head, moving on from the uneven stones, which were just that; uneven stones. Since she was still having difficulty with the water bottle I unscrewed the cap and returned it to her, wondering how anyone could be so uninformed as to not know how a screw-on cap worked. Maybe I had put it on to tightly. I had something of a record when it came to that.

“No matter how hard she tried, she could only understand the basics of it. As time went on she got better, certainly, but she could only just barely understand what we were doing, and making her own thoughts do it was still beyond her.”

“It sounds like you learned a version of occlumency.” Tracey commented.

“It’s nice that it has a name I suppose.” I pushed against one of the slanted walls, testing it for weak or loose spots.

“If it’s not too much trouble… What was making you go insane?” Tracey asked, considerably more timidly. I turned to face her, making sure I had her complete attention.

“You want to know of my madness, read something by Lovecraft _._ It’ll give you a bit of insight into how insane I was going. If you still want to know, I might consider telling you”  I returned to my searching.

“Hey! I found something!” Daphne called.

“What’d you find Winter?” I called back.

“A patch of dirt, which is strange because the rest of the floor is stone. It’s about the size of one of those garden beds in the greenhouse, maybe a little smaller. But what’s really interesting is the sign above it. It says ‘PS:DS+VT.’ Any idea what it means?”

“No idea. Probably notes for whoever’s setting this place up.”

“I think we found the way to move on from here, it’s this way.” Harry called quietly. The rest of us finished searching our areas and walked over to where he’d found a large doorway in the wall. As I approached the rest of the group I heard Hermione asking Daphne about it.

“Do you think this is a trap? It seems to obvious not to be.”

“No. Most wizards aren’t big on subtlety. If I were to be honest about this, I’d say that unless it’s a magical doorway, it’s not a trap.” Daphne informed her, turning to face Tracey. “Trace, would you…?”

“We’d better not still be in the school Daphne.” Tracey grumbled, turning to face the doorway.

“We aren’t. We just fell through some sort of transportation spell to get here. I doubt we’re anywhere near the school itself at this point.” Daphne told her in a placating tone. Tracey nodded and closed her eyes, breathing slowly for a few moments before she opened her eyes again and scanned the room.

“The doorway is just a doorway, nothing special, not even a basic alarm ward. The walls have anti-apparition wards and non-detection charms, but that’s it. No real defences.” Tracey said after a moment.

“Can you list the sources of magic, in order of strength please?” Daphne inquired.

“Certainly. The most powerful source of magic in the room is… the spell on the room that connects us to Hogwarts, though I’m not sure if that’s just Hogwarts’ magic leaking through. After that is… Harry. Then the Anti-apparition wards, then you Daphne, then the nondetection wards, then… Either Hermione or myself, but I can’t see my own magic very well, so I’m not sure, then the other one of us, then Steelthorn. Um… After this, go talk to madame Pomfrey about getting a restorative draught. You’ve got almost no magic whatsoever right now.”

“So we can move on without worrying about explosions and other painful deaths?” I asked, ignoring the note about my magic levels.

“There are no traps on the doorway, no.” Tracey confirmed. We moved on, walking down the hallway, which was lit by torches embedded in the wall every so often.

“What, no magic lights like the ones in the school?” Hermione asked when we first saw one of the torches.

“Probably trying to keep the detectable magic at a low. If you don’t know it’s there it’s harder to break in after all.” Daphne pointed out.

We kept walking, passing several empty rooms. After a while Tracey warned us that there was a significant source of magic ahead of us. Not long after that, we heard a whirring noise and entered a large brightly lit room with dozens of small objects flitting about in the air overhead.

“Are those... metal birds?” Tracey asked.

“No, they’re… keys. Winged, flying keys.” Harry said after a moment.

“I would assume the challenge is to find the one that goes in the lock then.” Daphne concluded, pointing to the large door at the far end.

“Well get a broom then, I’ll check out the keyhole to see what we’re looking for.” I told them, moving across the room and probing the lock with my picks, feeling for abnormal shapes, anything to identify the key we needed.

"Let me see. We want a silver colored key with a… Cross shaped cutout. If there are several of those, try the oldest looking one.” I called, feeling around in the lock with my picks. I didn’t have a skeleton key, and even if I did I doubted that this was a mundane lock. That didn’t mean I couldn’t use my picks to check what shape the key should be. The magic draining sequence wasn’t strong enough to affect this lock though, so we would have to do this the way it was meant to be done. My detective work finished, I grabbed a broom and joined the others in searching the flock of keys, which scattered whenever we came near them.

“Hmm… that one I think.” Harry said, snatching at one of the keys. He missed, but it was close from what I could tell. After a few minutes chase we were able to corner it and Harry snatched it, trying to avoid damaging the wings.

“Alright, here we go.” Harry whispered as he landed next to the door, pushing the key into the lock. As he pushed it in I folded the wings against the key to keep them from getting to badly damaged. The key turned and the door opened with a satisfying click. It was a little harder to withdraw the key without damaging it, and even then we did we had to smooth out some of the feathers, but when we were finished it looked similar enough I doubted a casual observer would notice the difference. I hoped it would be good enough.

On the other side of the door was an empty room with a white and black checkered floor. Besides the checkerboard pattern on the floor the room was empty, which set most of us on guard immediately. Daphne, and Tracey had their wands out, and I had no doubt that they both knew a few combat spells, based off the page of hexes from the Library. For my part I had a pair of knives at the ready, just barely hidden within the sleeves of my robes. Harry and Hermione were holding their wands out as well, though they were less confident in their stances than Tracey or Daphne. Despite our worries, nothing happened as we crossed the room, and the door opened without offering any resistance.

We walked down a short corridor and found another door with no markings, magic, or traps of any sort connected to it. It was just a basic mundane wood plank door with iron or steel hinges and a round knob.

When we opened the door the first thing we noticed was a blast of hot, pungent, air. This was followed closely by a loud growl, and then the door was opened far enough for us to see what was inside.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“It looks like a troll to me.”

“That puts us in a bit of a fix doesn’t it?” Daphne said, closing the door soundly.

“First a Cerberus, now a troll? What is going on here?” Harry exclaimed worriedly. I pushed the door open a hair and peeked through, trying to get a view of the room. It was large, and mostly open, but around the edges I could see a few stalactites and stalagmites, indicating that this room had once been a natural cave, something the builders of this place had stumbled upon as they worked, rather than it being here by design. The troll itself was probably tall enough to touch the top of the ceiling in one of the Hogwarts corridors, and each arm was probably about as big around as I was.

“Alright. Here’s the idea. You three find some way to attract the trolls attention. Make noise, throw stuff at it, hit it with a hex or seven, I don’t care. Just keep it from paying attention to me and Tracey. We’ll sneak past along the edges and see what we can find. Once we’re through the door on the other side, stop disrupting the troll and check to see if we’re back yet every few minutes. If we’ve come back… we’ll leave some sort of mark on the door so you know to distract it again.”

“That is a terrible idea. We should really call it a day here and come back later when we’re more prepared, or never, so we don't get eaten by a bloody troll.” Daphne protested. Everyone else nodded. I shrugged and turned on my heel, moving back toward the portal thingy to Hogwarts. After a moment everyone else followed me.

Getting out of that place proved easier than we’d thought, since everyone could just grab a broom and ride it out. Replacing the brooms was only slightly harder, but I took each one and returned them to their room, arranged as closely to the way they had been as I could recall. Since I was the only one who could touch the magical ropes that connected to my knives, I was the only one with a good way back up, though doing so drained the last of my magic.

I was glad we were back in Hogwarts so Tracey couldn’t use her magical sight, since I highly suspected that if anyone knew just how far drained my magic was I would be in major trouble. The side effects of not having my magic were bad enough without people bothering me about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if Steelthorn's use of Stories confused you, I'm sorry. He uses the approximate height of one story in a building as a frame of reference when he's eyeballing distances. Stories are how he measures height.


	11. Restoring Self

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magic. How does it work?  
> Questions with few answers, regaining what was lost.  
> A short section with our other important Slytherins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this one feels cramped, I couldn't really find a good way to write this section.  
> As always, Italics are thoughts... Do I really need to keep saying the entire list or am I just being redundant?

I grimaced slightly as we trekked up the stairs to the Great Hall Tuesday morning. Sunday hadn’t been so bad, I’d mostly just studied in the library or roamed the castle, leaving listening runes in various places I thought they might be useful. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to activate any of them. Monday hadn’t been terrible, since double potions, Herbology, and History meant I hadn’t spent much of the day doing magic, though I’d also had charms, which was a semi-magic intensive class.

Sure charms could have been a disaster, but we were still going over wand motions, so there hadn’t been any magic on my end. That wasn’t to say that there hadn’t been any magic, as several other students had blown things up, though Seamus Finnigan’s had been the most spectacular, sending a wave of fire halfway across the room before Professor Flitwick was able to properly contain it. As a side benefit we’d learned that magical fire could be much harder to deal with than regular fire, depending on the power of the caster.

Today would not be a good day for me though. With my magic at an all-time low and no way to change that in sight, I was foreseeing that today would lead to a world of hurt. Transfiguration followed by double defense, then Charms and Astronomy was going to be a drain on my nonexistent magical reserves. And, as I’d discovered once before, with no magic to power my runes (and so it was safe to assume my spells) they would start draining me. The result was one shell of a person, perfectly fine externally, but internally I was lacking most of the things that made me me, with the exception of suspicion. That was at an all-time high.

I opted to take a detour to the hospital wing to see if Madame pomfrey had anything to boost magical reserves, hoping that it might help. She gave me a small dose, but it didn’t help. Of course, I didn’t tell her that, it was bad enough I’d had to ask at all, and she made certain I knew it. Breakfast was normal. Draco and I glared at each other when we first spotted each other, I grabbed something at random off the table, not really caring what I was eating as I wandered the Great Hall listening for anything interesting. The result of Harry’s being caught flying against orders was still on people’s minds since nobody knew what had happened exactly after McGonagall took him to the castle.

A parliament of owls flew in and left the mail all over the tables, as they usually did, generating chaos as people tried to catch all the mail meant for them and keep their food from having mail dropped in it. This was not helped by the number of owls that would then land on the tables and try to steal food. Harry got a long thin object, read the attached card, and shot out of the room. Hermione looked like she would have much rather followed him then stayed there, but she did stay in her seat. I suspected that she was only still there because somebody had to keep Ron away from Harry, and Ron wasn’t likely to leave Hermione mid-conversation, even for Harry.

I left the Great Hall a bit later, though not close enough after him to arouse suspicion. That was particularly easy in the castle since everything moved with some degree of regularity. The halls and doors (for the most part) didn’t move during school time, but during breakfast and the like it was hopeless. For most people, anyway. I had the benefit of knowing to ask Hogwarts for directions, and her being willing to give them. At the portrait of the Fat Lady I knocked once, since I wasn’t breaking and entering right now, and waited for somebody to let me in. I didn’t have to wait long before the portrait swung open.

Harry was alone in the common room, staring at the broomstick that lay on the floor in front of him, his mouth slightly open in awe.

“What’s special about this one? Other than that it’s not broken, obviously.” I asked gruffly, hoping the broken silence would break his trance. It did and he quickly ran it up to his dorm, taking the broom with him. I carved a few listening runes into the underside of furniture and the like (since I was already there) while I waited for him to get back. For obvious reasons, I didn’t activate them.

“It’s special Steelthorn, because it’s a Nimbus two thousand. That’s the best broom there is right now.” Harry informed me before we split up to go to our classes.

 

 

|~~~~~|

 

In Transfiguration I did the bare minimum as far as magic was concerned but I still left feeling as though I was a corpse that hadn’t fallen down instead of a living being. I was dreading Defence, since Quirrel rarely let a class go by without us doing some sort of wandwork. I assumed that since we had a longer class time, we would be doing both wandwork and spellwork.

I was proven wrong when the first thing Quirrell said after closing the classroom doors was to put away our books. At the end of class I was left wondering what cruel Demon had decided to stick its hand in my life for its entertainment.

The voices in my head were arguing as I left that class, but I couldn’t really tell what about due to the pain I was in. My joints cried out in pain no matter how little I moved, and moving only made them worse, my blood seemed to have turned to fire, my mouth and throat were raw and hoarse, my head throbbed sharply, and my bones seemed to have become colder than ice. Every breath felt as though I was inhaling acid and lightning. Delirium was quickly rising to the op of the list of words I would use to describe my mental state, and that was only during my more lucid moments.

I’d dealt with the pain before, but usually I didn’t let it get as bad as it was now. Usually, I stopped doing things that needed magic when I started running low. I wondered how long I would be waiting. Tomorrow wouldn’t make it any worse, since I wasn’t doing any magic intensive courses then, but the day after would see me dead if I couldn’t restore my magic before then.

 

|~~~~~|

 

 

I slowly climbed to my feet, more crawling up the wall than standing, looking around myself blearily. The room I was in was unfamiliar, and the afterimages that appeared when I blinked weren’t helping identify it. I slowly made my way to the door and pulled it open, noting that it wasn’t locked. However I’d gotten into that room, I wasn’t being kept in. I stepped out and closed the door behind me. A short way down the hall I saw a staircase and I started down, hoping to figure out which floor I was on, if I was even still in Hogwarts. Unfortunately, I fell and rolled to the bottom, unable to count. I felt a semi-solid impact and came to a slow stop a bit farther down. I stood up and looked down the hall in front of me. I’d come to a stop in the dungeons, not far from the potions classroom. After confirming my location I made my way to the Slytherin dorms and flopped onto my bed where I quickly fell into a restless slumber.

The next morning I rose earlier than usual to discover that I had fallen off my bed. I looked at the clock on the wall and decided there was no use in trying to go back to sleep and started making my way up to the kitchen. I was fairly sure that I ran into a couple walls on the way up, but I couldn’t really discern the impacts from the rest of the pain I felt, so I wasn’t sure.

The Kitchen seemed abnormally bright, but I could see just well enough to find one of the chairs and sit down before asking one of the Elves for something to eat. I was summarily presented with a cup of milk, an apple, and a slice of toast. I ate quickly and thanked them, trying to puzzle out what I was going to do next.

Most of the other students seemed to never run out of magic, as though they just always had enough. Maybe they all knew what gave them their magic and kept it close? No, that would have meant all muggleborns couldn’t use magic long, since nobody would have seen fit to tell them they needed something to keep their magic going. Maybe we were exposed to most of the usual restoratives while in the castle, so that nobody ever needed run out? That seemed possible, and it also explained why Purebloods seemed to act so superior. If they knew about magic sources and didn’t share, then of course they had better magic, they would never stray far from their restorative if they could help it.

“Master Steelythorn, you bes needing to wake up now or yous being late to class.” One of the elves said, prodding at me with one finger.  I blinked myself awake, and rushed out of the room as fast as I could, tracing the path to the potions classroom in my head as I ran, skidding to a stop at the door just before Snape closed it, signifying that class had started, and all newcomers were late.

“Ah. I had wondered where you were, come in Steelthorn.” Snape told me by way of greeting. I nodded and composed myself as I strode in, seating myself at my normal place in the corner. Class went by in a blur and I soon found myself on the way to Herbology. Professor Sprout hurried all the students in, giving the sky a furtive glance.

“I don’t like the look of those clouds. If we’re lucky the storm will blow over before we finish class, but I’m not hopeful.” She said as she ushered us inside the greenhouse. I noticed flashes of yellow mixed in with the green of Slytherin uniforms as the students settled in.

I wasn’t paying attention to Professor Sprout, instead watching the clouds on the horizon hopefully. The clouds weren’t far away, but they couldn’t be here soon enough in my opinion. They moved slowly towards the castle as class dragged on. Professor Sprout was talking about a plant with wide leaves that looked like a bizarre cross between a fern and a cactus. The clouds were closer now, I could see flashes of lightning in the clouds as they rushed towards us.

Professor Sprout was showing the class a plant that looked like a reed with six tips, each of which dripped a red liquid. The clouds were close enough that I could make out individual clouds as they moved closer, a black tide with streaks of white fire flaring across it as it advanced.

“If we hurry, we’ll be able to get inside the castle before the storm hits. Hurry now children.” Professor Sprout called, gesturing for us to leave the greenhouse. Class must be over then. It hadn’t been long, but I already knew that getting Professor Sprout to release class early wasn’t possible.

The students left in a mad rush, almost flying in their haste to get to the castle before the rain came. Professor Sprout counted each one as they passed then gave me an expectant look. I stood up slowly and left, walking with a deliberate step. As soon as Professor Sprout turned back to close and lock the greenhouse doors, I bolted, hiding myself well out of her sight. If I could just stay out of sight until the storm hit, I would be alright.

I glanced up and suddenly my vision was blurry as a raindrop tangled itself in my eyelashes, narrowly avoiding hitting my eye. I smiled widely and looked back to where Professor Sprout was running towards the castle door. I ducked low to the grass to stay out of sight. I could already feel the pain and delirium receding as the rain fell.

Professor Sprout closed the castle door behind her right as the rain started falling in earnest. I was instantly drenched and the ground below me turned to mud in seconds. Despite the wet, I felt better than ever. I didn’t have my magic back yet, but I was mostly myself, with only a few aches and pains which were rapidly fading. I rushed across the ground towards the castle as I felt the flame of magic rekindle itself within me. I drew my rope-knife and hurled it as high as I could, embedding it in the castle wall as the spectral black and silver rope uncoiled from it, the extra landing in a coil at my feet.

I kicked off my shoes and started climbing, using my toes to grip the rope as I went. I swung back and forth, moving steadily upwards towards the top of the castle.

_If anyone saw us right now they’d think we were insane._

_Aren’t we though? Most people don’t have multiple people wandering around in their head._

_Fair enough. Could they even see us though?_

_Probably not. The rain’s pretty bad right now. Of course, that’s never bothered us before. I wonder if that’s why nobody else likes spending time in storms._

_Most people probably can’t see perfectly no matter how bad the storm, no._

I reached the knife and climbed onto a narrow ledge. With one hand I hung on to the wall while I used the other to remove the knife from the wall and throw it farther up, sticking it in the underside of a tower roof. I climbed the rope quickly and found myself hanging from the bottom of a tower roof by a magically affixed rope.

_Dangling from the underside of a tower roof of a magical sentient castle by a magical rope that’s attached to the roof by a magic knife. That’s not something most people can expect to say in their lifetimes._

_Most people aren’t us._

_It must suck to be them._

I fished a second knife out of my pocket and kicked off the tower wall, swinging outward before stabbing the second knife into the top of the roof of the tower. From there it was relatively easy to remove the rope-knife from the tower and use the two knives to climb the rest of the way onto the tower roof. At the top I stood, balanced on the two knives stuck in the roof, and stretched my arms to the sides and leaned my head back, letting the rain fall on my face and arms, exulting in the feeling of my magic flooding back into me and the relative normalcy of having magic again.

 

 

|~~~~~|

 

“That’s strange, Steelthorn isn’t here. I know I saw him leave the greenhouse.” Professor sprout mused, looking over the class of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins who were gathered in the castle entryway. Nearby her, Daphne and Tracey were making the same realization. Of course, they weren’t about to give that away by saying so.

“Where’s your miracle boy Greengrass? if he's gotten himself killed in that storm, we're all dead.” Theo asked quietly. Daphne turned slightly so she could see him out of the corner of her eye without looking straight at him, a trick she’d picked up on the streets, and studied him for a second before answering.

“I’m not sure. He doesn’t lend himself to being kept track of very easily.” Daphne responded, trying to keep the boy in her field of vision as she scanned the crowd again. Still no sign of Steelthorn.

“What do you mean, he doesn’t lend himself to being kept track of? He’s got an easily identifiable hair color and there’s nowhere to hide in this place. How could you lose him?” Theo snapped quietly.

“That’s true, but you have to remember that he is first and foremost a thief who has spent years refining his magic to help him avoid being noticed on top of spending his entire life learning how to keep out of sight.” She answered, turning to face him fully. Tracey looked between the two, trying to think up some way to get them to stop arguing. She had the suspicion that Daphne was deliberately withholding information from Theo, but she didn’t know what. Across from her, Alison seemed to be focusing intently on something, though it wasn't clear what she was focusing on.

“Students, have any of you seen Steelthorn?” Professor sprout asked, her voice silencing the crowd as they looked around for the familiar tangle of silver and black hair wearing a bright, if not all the way present, smile. Before long a negative murmur swept through the crowd as the students realized that he was the only one missing.

“Oh dear. I’ll have to—” Whatever Professor Sprout was going to say was cut off by a deafening roar of thunder. Before the ringing had faded from their ears, a flash of white light, brighter than the sun, appeared in the windows. This was accompanied by an even louder clap of thunder.

As they waited for the glare to clear from their eyes and the ringing to fade, most of the students realized that they were getting wet and that the wind was blowing around them, even inside. The few whose eyes had cleared enough to see looked towards the door to see if it had been blown open. They blinked and rubbed at their eyes to see if they were seeing things because of the lightning flashes.

“You have got to come out here. The lightning looks amazing!” Steelthorn called from the open doorway.

 

|~~~~~|

 

I smiled as the rain streamed off me and reached my arms up towards the sky, letting my rope fall off the edge of the tower as it uncoiled from the knife. Lightning was about to strike, I could feel it. A few seconds later a crack of thunder and a flash of light signaled the lightning had struck. I felt a slight tingle and suddenly my magic reserves were full well above normal. It wasn’t often I got a lightning strike after all.

I slide down the rope towards the ground and paused as I reached the end. Before I could remove the knife from the tower, a second bolt of lightning struck, a pure white pillar of light that bathed the surrounding area in brilliant light. I felt a slight crackling as the bolt raced down my magical rope and entered my hand. After it faded I saw a faint glow rising from my skin, like I’d poured white glow sticks on my hands and arms. I dropped the last two stories and deactivated the knife in the tower roof, letting it fall.

I pulled the door to the castle open and looked in, finding my herbology class inside as the rain blew in.

“You have got to come out here. The lightning looks amazing!” I called. They stared at me blankly in complete silence. My knife landed on the ground with a quiet splat, just to the side of the door. I kicked it up into my robes as I walked inside, activating the runes on it to make it stick to the inside of my school robes. The class still hadn’t reacted when I reached the far side of the entryway and I groaned, turning back to face them.

“Oh Come _on_ people. It’s not like I died and came back or anything. I walked around in a storm for a bit. People do that all the time. Loosen up!” With that I walked through the door farther into the castle and headed towards history class. Normally I hated it. It was so boring and there wasn’t anything new to learn after day one, but In the afterglow of regaining my magic, I’d need a class that wouldn’t have any thrills. Hopefully my skin would finish deciding it wasn’t a glow-stick by the time I got to the classroom. I wasn't glowing as brightly as I had been when either of the lightning bolts struck me, but I was still emitting a faint glow.

A waving gauntlet attracted my attention, pointing towards a blank section of wall. I paused and walked over to the wall, tapping lightly at it. The armor made a circling gesture, fingers positioned as if holding something. I held my hand in the same position and copied the circling motion to no avail. After a moment I realized that I was holding my hand in exactly the right position to hold a wand and drew mine from my sleeve before repeating the motion.

The wall seemed to peel away from me, revealing another hallway on the other side. I smiled and stepped through with a whispered thanks to the castle. The wall replaced itself behind me as I moved down the hall towards History of Magic.

Now that my mind was clear and my magic was back I could truly recognize how dull History really was. I had thought it was bad when I was low on magic, but now that I had a large amount of it I was operating at a much higher level than I had been before. My mind was working overtime trying to invent a way out of class that would work every time as Professor binns droned on about the Goblin revolt of some year or another.

Suddenly a flash of inspiration struck, and I reached into my bag and pulled out a small black book. It had by far been the most expensive book I bought, but it was worth it in my mind. The shopkeeper I’d bought it from had said it would never run out of pages. I hoped he hadn’t been lying, more for his sake more than mine. I put my quill to the page and started writing.

_Target profile: White peacock._

“You are excused.” Professor Binns said creakily and floated away through the wall. I looked up from my book, hastily closing the book, and put it away in my bag while the rest of my class woke themselves up. Once my books and things were put away I walked out and closed the door soundly behind me. I hoped none of them had noticed that I was still glowing faintly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I know there's a section that seems to have been left out. Remember this is supposed to be Steelthorn's account and at this point in time he wasn't fully lucid, thus it's missing. Don't worry though, the mystery will be unraveled as time goes on.
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. The first pages of Steelthorn's Black Book goes up today. In-depth explanation for what it is and why it matters over there, but it's the book he was writing in during History of Magic in this chapter.


	12. The Room of General Usefulness.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meetings and secret discussions take center stage, with an added dose of random and annoyed Steelthorn for good measure.

For a week or two after the storm incident I was on edge, worried that somebody had noticed that I was glowing. After that week had passed and nobody had approached me about the storm at all, glowing aside, I relaxed some. Not a lot, of course, I never completely relaxed, but some.

With my magic at an all-time high I devoted some time each day to placing listening runes in every room in the castle, letting me listen to anything that was said. When I finished, the only places I hadn’t gotten runes in were the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls dorms and Silverbeard's office, since I didn’t have the passwords. Winter and Silver had helped get the runes into their respective dorms.

With runes in most of the rooms of the castle, I turned my attention to finding ways to plant runes on people. I’d already experimented with writing runes on scraps of parchment when I had gotten Winter and Hermione to help place runes in the girls dorms. That hadn’t worked very well since the house elves kept returning them to me when they cleaned up. Eventually the girls had just carved the runes into the undersides of bed frames, using one of the parchments I’d drawn up as guides.

With the parchment idea ruled out, I would have to get more creative in my plans. Putting runes on myself was fairly easy. I could use chalk or ink to write them directly onto my skin or I could sew them into my robes. The problem was that in order to get them on somebody else, I needed a way that wouldn’t be so complex.

While I was working on that, several other things came up. The first, was that we still needed a better meetingplace, one that didn’t drain my magic as much as our current temporary ones did. The other was the room I had woken up in the day of the storm. None of the rooms I had found when I was placing runes matched the room I remembered, though there were a few rooms that were pretty run down.

I imagined finding the room I’d woken up in would solve our other problem as well, since a room that didn’t exist would fit our needs perfectly. Failing to find anything by searching the castle, I started searching through all the books on the castle, hoping maybe one of them would at least mention the room.

The sheer size of the library was the first obstacle, hundreds of thousands of books on every subject known to magicals. The second was the impossibility of the place I was searching for. Since the castle changed its layout by itself, the idea of recording its rooms had likely never crossed any of the authors minds, but occasionally they would make notes of strange features or old tales of the castle. It was these sorts of accounts I was searching for, as it seemed that little else would give any insight into my search.

Several weeks of searching later, during which I spent as little time as possible doing anything else, I had assembled a list of possibilities. The most promising of them were the Chamber of Secrets, since almost nothing was known about it, and the room known as either ‘Vanishing Room’, the  ‘Door of a Thousand Rooms’, or the ‘Room of Requirement’, was the other possibility. Obviously, the next issue was finding them.

The Chamber of Secrets was at the base of Gryffindor tower according to one account, though the supporting evidence seemed shaky at best. According to the other it was in the Slytherin dorms, which seemed to be illogical enough that I could almost believe a wizard would do it, but accounts about Salazar himself indicated he wasn’t as stupid as your average wizard.

The Vanishing Room, which seemed an appropriate name, was on the top floor. Oddly enough each account had a different definition of which floor was the ‘top floor’. The first account said it was the third floor, the second insisted it was the fourth floor, while the last claimed it was the sixth floor. It was accessed by either walking through the west passage three times, wandering aimlessly about the halls, or by telling the castle what you wanted the room to contain while hopping on one foot in the east passage.

_ I’m so glad that wizarding scholars are so careful to correlate their findings. _

_ Thorn, You’ve already commented on how much you hate this at least five million times. I don’t have an exact number because I lost count, so that’ll have to do. _

_ Steel? _

_ Yes Thorn? _

_ Shut up. _

_ Make me. _

The ensuing headache very nearly had me yelling at them both, though the threat of Madam Pince’s feather-dustery wrath prevented me from doing so until after leaving the library.

“Both of you stop fighting! We’re trying to find a magical room of general usefulness, and you two can’t find anything better to do than bicker about the number of times you complained?” I yelled as I walked down the hall. The few students near me gave me some odd looks, but I ignored them.

_ He’s got a point. _

_ Magical room of General Usefulness huh? I like it. _

_ It’s better than that ‘Door of a Thousand Rooms’ nonsense. _

_ “Agreed!” _ I said, in perfect chorus with… one of the voices, I wasn’t sure which, but I thought it was Thorn.

“So, which room should we try first? Slytherin’s thingy or the Vanishing Room?” I asked.

_ Vanishing Room. Worst case scenario we don’t find it on the… which floor is the top floor now? Seventh I think? And we try finding Slytherin’s Secret Room of Ultimate Secretyness. _

_ That’s not a word Thorn. _

_ What? Secretyness? That’s totally a word. _

_ No it’s not. _

_ I just declared it to be, so it is now a word. _

“Don’t start again you two.”

_ I still think Secretyness isn’t a word. _ Steel muttered sullenly before falling silent. I made it all the way to the top floor, which was indeed the seventh floor, before they started talking again, this time arguing over which method we should try first. Thorn insisted on the hopping on one foot method, while Steel vehemently argued in favor of the wandering the halls method. Naturally I chose the third method: Walk up and down the western corridor. That sent them both into their sullen silence again, which was perfectly fine with me.

On the third pass a door appeared, one which hadn’t been there when I started.

“I win, pay up suckers.” I told the duo in my head triumphantly.

_ Alright fine, so we were wrong. _

_ Maybe they were all right though. What then huh? _

_ That aside, how are we supposed to pay you when we’re figments of your own psyche? _

“We’re not jumping up and down on one foot while yelling what we want for the entire castle to hear, and I’m not in favor of getting lost on purpose. And you can pay by obeying when I tell you to shut up.” I told them as I pushed the door open. Inside was a cylindrical room which stretched down into darkness. Criss-crossing the void were long beams here and there as far down as I could see. Torches ringed the wall every so often, lighting the room the entire way down. I grinned and stepped out onto the beam directly in front of the door and closed the door behind me. I crawled around, hanging from the underside of the beam, and leapt, tumbling to a beam farther down and repeated the process, half falling, half jumping, as I made my way down. Eventually I had fallen far enough down that I couldn’t see the ceiling anymore, above me the tower extended forever, growing smaller and smaller until one of the beams crossing above me blocked my view completely.

“Well this is a fun place isn’t it? Not the same as the room I remember, but the book did say it could change.”

_ It is quite a bit of fun isn’t it? _

_ Although I’m not sure how effective this particular room will be as a meetingplace. There’s not much space on the beams and they’re fairly far apart near the top, so everyone else might not be able to climb back up. _

_ Who cares? We found the room, and it’s capable of changing what it is, so we can have whatever room we need. _

“I think the best part is the fact that we can hide the door by not wanting anyone else to be allowed in.” I said as I started climbing back up. As far down as I was, the beams were closer together, growing farther apart the higher I went. As I started climbing it was more a matter of watching my head as I stepped from beam to beam. After a while I had to start reaching from one beam to the next and pulling myself up. Later still I had to start using my rope knives, climbing and swinging my way up until I reached the top where the door was.

“I think we have some messages to deliver.” I told the voices as I walked out the door. As soon as I closed it behind me, the door vanished.

_ Perfect. _

  
  


|~~~~~|

  
  


“You found a meetingplace for us? That’s wonderful!” Silver exclaimed as she walked up to where I was waiting in the seventh floor corridor.

“But… where is it?” Tracey asked as she walked over from the other side.

“Interesting things about this corridor are…?” I asked as they came to a stop next to me.

“There’s nothing here. Absolutely nothing of interest. Not even a painting.” Tracey said as she looked around.

“No… That’s what’s interesting. That there isn’t anything!” Silver exclaimed. I smiled and nodded.

“We have two more that we’re waiting on. I don’t see them though.” I said, glancing around. Not seeing anyone, I activated the listening runes I had placed along the other halls and stairs to the seventh floor. Two pairs of footsteps sounded. One, hurried and unbalanced, came from the staircase. That was Sparky. As he left the staircase the unbalanced noise faded, replaced by a sort of quiet padding sound. From the far side of the floor an almost silent swish-swish-swish noise sounded, perfectly even in spacing and heard only by the shifting of cloth. I grinned.

“Alright, so we’ve got Sparky on the way, he’ll be coming around that corner in about a three count, and Winter’s about two corridors down that way.” I said as I straightened up from the wall I was leaning on. Tracey gave me a quizzical look as Harry came around the corner. Silver chuckled.

“Right on the dot Steelthorn, as always.” She said, waving as He walked up. I stopped activating my listening runes and waited, eyes closed, back against the wall, one foot up, counting in my head. When I got the thirty-three I opened my eyes and stood up, turning towards the mouth of one of the corridors. Winter walked around the corner a second later, her uniform swishing slightly around her in an even rhythm, her footfalls silent.

“Why are we all standing out here like a flock of geese? The whole point of coming up one at a time was to avoid this.” She asked in an annoyed tone.

“Because there’s a special key to get in. Walk up and down the hallway three times if you would and think about what you want to be in our meetingplace. The more detail the better.” I told her. She gave me an annoyed look and did so.

“If this is one of your jokes I swear nobody will ever find your body Steelthorn.” She hissed as She turned around on the third pass.

“Wait for it… There we are.” I said, pointing as the door materialized in the wall. Silver and Sparky’s jaws dropped. Tracey and Winter were less obvious in their surprise, but it still caught them a bit off guard. I opened the door and beckoned them in.

“You did include a bit about nobody who wasn’t invited being able to find the door, right?” I asked as Winter passed. She gave me a condescending look.

“I wasn’t born yesterday.”

I smirked and closed the door behind me and turned to see what Winter had imagined up for us. It was a small room lit by a set of torches along the walls. Along each wall was a couch large enough for two people. Between them was a wooden table. The ceiling was a darkened arch with a crossbeam on each side and one across the center.

“I think that you miscounted Winter. There’s only five people here and six seats.”

“I thought you invited Lady Rosier and Lord Nott.” She told me airily.

“No. They’re the ones we’re discussing today, so obviously they can’t be here. And that makes seven people and six seats.”

“No, I specifically included the rafters for you.” She said as she seated herself on one of the couches. I nodded slightly and hopped onto the table and from there into the rafters, where I settled myself in. Sparky sat down on another couch and silver sat next to him while Tracy joined Daphne on the other couch.

“Alright, so what do we know about the Nott-Rosier couple?” I asked the moment they were all situated.

“Steelthorn, since we’re all here you might as well learn some basic manners. They might help you someday.” Winter scolded.

“Enlighten me then.” I grumbled.

“First you ask after everyone’s well being, then you discuss some lighter matter, and then you can move on to business. It’s not hard.” She explained. I rolled my eyes.

“What a waste of time.”

“It is, but you can get a feel for the people you’re talking with before you start on business that way.”

“So always launch straight into business when talking with magical folk so they can’t learn as much about me before we start business.” I deduced.

“There’s quite a few who will refuse you no matter the offer if you do that.”

“Blarg. You Purebloods are really obnoxious sometimes, you know that?”

“Nobody’s forcing you to follow those rules, unlike Harry here, who’ll have to since he’s the last living Potter, and by extension the heir apparent to the Peverell line and possibly, depending on how their succession goes, Heir to the Ancient house of Black as well.”

“I don’t know what that means.” Sparky said after a moment of silence.

“It means that Purebloods are still using the inheritance system from the Dark ages Harry.” Silver informed him irritably.

“More importantly, it means that when you reach your majority, that’s seventeen in the wizarding world, you will be one of the most important people in all of wizarding Britain's politics since the Noble house of Potter and the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell are some of the most powerful houses there are. In the event that you are also Heir to the house of Black, then you would become the absolute most important person in Wizarding Britain.” Tracey explained.

“In words for idiots like you and me Sparky, that means you get to be the one who everyone wants to have on their side in politics.” I told him, swinging down so I was hanging from the rafter by my legs. “How does it feel to be the battlefield?” I asked cheerily. His eye twitched as he head tipped to one side a bit jerkily. I rapped him smartly on the head and frowned.

“I think we broke him. Anyone know how to fix a person? I’m not good at that part, just the breaking them part. Although usually there’s more blood when I break people… hmm. Maybe there’s something to this politics thing. Harder to get caught when there’s no blood.” I mused, watching him carefully.

“You could at least  _ pretend _ to care about his state of mind Steelthorn.” Silver complained. Winter punched me in the back. Hard.

“Ow. It’s not my fault that I’m insane.” I protested as I climbed back up onto the rafter.

“That’s debatable at best Steelthorn.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually Sparky calmed down and returned to the normal world after his mental jaunt into insanity and, at his request, we started talking about Theo and Alison to get his mind off things for a while.

“Let’s start with the basics. What do we know about them?” I asked from my perch in the rafters.

“They’re both heirs to fairly strong houses, have something against the Malfoys, and need some help to take them out.” Tracey summarized.

“The other thing is that they mentioned working on a deadline. Sometime fourth year, specifically.” Winter added.

“So we’ve been chosen to do their dirty work and they’re the stronger party so, until Harry gets older, if we get caught it’s all on us.” I growled. I’d done a job like that before. It was one of the few I had been caught doing.

“Actually no. since Harry is here we’re the more powerful side, unless he leaves, but since we’re debating current positions, we’ve got the advantage. I don’t think they were very happy to see him show up at our first meeting and that might be why.” Silver corrected. “What? It was in one of my books.” She defended as we gave her surprised looks.

“Of course it was. I think that’s because without him we can’t refuse, Tracey’s the last of House Davis and House Greengrass lost a lot of our money and power during the war since we’re almost exclusively wizarding merchants, although I’d like to change that. We could gain quite a bit of money by doing business with Muggles.” Winter explained.

“So we’re being petitioned to kill an idiot who I already decided I’m going to kill. What are they offering in exchange?” I asked.

“An alliance. They’re pretty powerful houses, as we said, and they’ve got some good contacts and various methods of getting things we might need that would be illegal or beyond our means otherwise.”

“So they’re offering black market contacts in exchange for killing him. Sounds good.”

“One thing that we’ll cover more later is that every noble house has specific magical specialties. House Davis can see magic, that’s why Tracey could see the wards in the third floor corridor. House Rosier has the ability to read your emotions and thoughts. The Notts are extremely good at seeing things others miss. Between the two of them, bluffs and lies are almost guaranteed to fail.” Winter noted.

“So I handle the haggling. No problem.” I said flippantly.

“You’re terrible at haggling.”

“I’ve gotten better since you left. And besides, most of the time  _ I  _ don’t know either of those.” I protested. Silver rolled her eyes at me.

“We’ll meet here again on Saturday. This meeting is adjourned until then. Harry, remember to bring a quill, ink, and parchment then. That’s when we’ll start lessons on nobility.” Winter said, a distinct air of regality entering her tone.

“I don’t think we can trust our would-be partners, so no telling them about this room.” I called as we filtered out.

“Noted. It’ll get harder when Alison’s ability matures and she can read thoughts fully, but for now we can just avoid thinking about the subject and that should be fine.”

“Is there a way to block her from reading our thoughts? I think that we’d really want to find something like that.” Sparky asked.

“Occlumency, yes. I’ll have to ask my parents about finding a way to teach you, because that’s something we can’t be without.” Winter told him as they left. I closed the door to the room and it vanished as soon as I turned around. With the door gone, I paced the hall. A bit later the door reappeared. I pulled it open and slipped inside. I had work to do, and even the best spies need practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the reason I've started using alternative names (Silver instead of Hermione, Sparky instead of Harry, etc, is because a few weeks back I realized that Steelthorn seems unlikely to care what people are normally called, instead applying names to them as he sees fit. The only reason Tracey's name hasn't been changed is that as of this chapter, Steelthorn doesn't have a good one for her.


	13. Chapter 13

That Saturday we were once again in the Room of Usefulness. Silver had designed the room today, and so I amused myself by bouncing from bookshelf to bookshelf and randomly selecting books off the shelf to skim in the small library she had imagined up for the meeting. The room was really divided into two parts, the Library, which I was bouncing around in, and the sitting room, where the others were all seated.

For the most part I was bored. I was debating whether an analogy to molasses going uphill or a snail’s flight speed while underground would be more accurate in its description of the speed at which Time was passing when I turned my ears back to the Lesson the others were having.

“...Maybe we should have checked out one of the books on Pureblood lineage for this lesson Daph.” Tracey said, pulling Winters sleeve as she gave the other two a pointed look. They both seemed to have spaced out, even Silver, who could stay awake through Professor Ghost’s classes without batting an eye, seemed somewhat dazed.

“Probably, but this is one of the more important things they need to know. Bloodlines are one of the major components of politics.” Winter muttered, and brought her hands together sharply. The resulting sound echoed around the small room like a gunshot. It was almost comical to see how Sparky and Silver jerked awake suddenly, shaking their heads and looking around almost in concert.

“On account of a complete lack of anyone being able to pay attention—” Winter gave me a pointed look before pinning the other two to the wall with a glare. “—We’ll try teaching lineage later when we have a book or a chart to show it better. Since our first lesson was something of a bust, let’s try covering House magic instead.”

“Hey, something that might be useful in the next ten years.” I said, sparing them a glance as I idly replacing the book I’d been holding and looking over at the other four while dangling from the top of the bookshelf. “What? You’ve known me for a few weeks now, there’s no reason for those looks.” Tracey and Sparky instantly stopped staring at me, and the rest of us giggled.

“So, we already covered a few of the house gifts, which are a branch of house magics. There are two branches of house magic. The first is actual magic and spells which are known only to that house. Some of which cannot be performed by anyone outside of that house, with severe consequences to any who might try and use them despite that.” Winter gave me a pointed look while Tracey talked. “Most of the ancient houses will have family grimoires. These are often stuffed so full of hexes and wards that any attempts to read them by somebody outside of the family will invariably end as a small reddish-brown splotch on one of the pages, if they even got past the cover.”

_Note to self: Buff up the anti-magic runes before reading any other strange books._

_Pack up and run folks! The apocalypse must have started yesterday, Thorn had an intelligent idea._

_Just because I don’t burden myself with thought doesn’t mean I_ can’t _do so._

“Because everybody is so protective of them, nobody knows exactly what each house’s spells can do, but there are speculations. House Black was rumoured to have a ritual which could kill anyone, no matter where they were or how they tried to protect themselves, and left no trace. And that’s the type of thing that people weren’t worried about.” Tracey continued. “The imperious curse was based on a rather common spell. Nearly every house had some way to do something similar.”

“Unlike House Grimoires, house gifts are much rarer. Most of them have a spell equivalent, though they are typically superior to the actual spell. And yes, before you ask Steelthorn, house Rosier’s gift does have a spell equivalent. No, I’m not teaching it to you.” Winter said, letting Tracey catch her breath. “Now we’ll mostly focus on the gift of House Potter. It’s possible that you’ve inherited House Black’s gifts as well, but it’s just as likely that you inherited none of the gifts at all. Exactly how house magics works has evaded discovery for centuries. House Potter’s gift was an interesting one. One of the few that doesn’t have a spell equivalent, they could bounce their spells off objects and flat surfaces, which made for some very interesting duels, or so I’ve been told.”

“Aww! Why does he get the interesting stuff?” I whined. A knife hit the shelf next to my head.

“Shut up Steelthorn.” Winter rebuked, lowering her outstretched hand.

“You were off about a handwidth. We’ll have to work on that.” I commented as I tossed it back to her. Winter rolled her eyes at me as she stowed the knife and continued. “While ordinarily you would be in line for the Peverell gift as well, nobody really knows what it is now, so you’ll have to do the research in your house library once you come of age to find out.”

“Magicals are so good at keeping records. I’m sure glad they have magic to help them with it or we might have more records than we do as far as magical history goes.” I said sardonically.

“Our records are just very hard to track down is all, we do have records going back farther than that, Steelthorn.”

“Oh good, because I’d hate to think that the ‘inferior Muggles’ were so far ahead of you in the history area. I should mention that to our friendly neighborhood peacock. Might make him lose a feather or two. If he loses enough of them I’ll be able to slit his throat. That would be a nice change.”

“That’s probably not going to work. He only cares about what can make him more comfortable right now.” Tracey pointed out. “Also, normal people don’t talk… oh. I forgot who I was talking to for a moment.”

“He’s an idiot. And insane. Means he fits in nicely with the rest of Wizarding Britain, since if he wasn’t at least one of the two, he’d be too intelligent and too rational to be in the magical world.” I stated venomously. “And congratulations. You’re learning.” I smiled widely at her, a slight bit of condescension in my tone.

“While I agree that your average Magical does seem to be lacking in common sense, I do not appreciate the degrading comments regarding my family.” Winter snapped. I rolled my eyes.

“Oh for goodness sake Daphne, You know that’s not what he meant!” Silver exclaimed, trying to calm her down.

“ _No,_ that’s not at all what I meant.” I started in a drawl which would make that idiotic Peacock jealous. “I was just saying that magicals live in a distorted reality where who you sit next to during lunch is the most important thing on your mind because it might possibly affect whether you have ten million pounds or one million, while I’m across the table planning how I’m going to rob one of them blind so that the few people I _do_ care about won’t die of starvation or exposure tomorrow!”

“Oh, I see. Because you’re _so_ much better than the rest of us. At least we’re not making a living by killing and robbing others!” Winter snapped, narrowing her eyes at me. The others backed away from us, instantly knowing that something bad was about to happen.

I growled quietly, devoting my full attention to Winter. She was glaring at me fully now, and in her eyes I could see the fury of a Howling Blizzard. I met her gaze with a challenging look, and for a moment of crystalized time, our gazes bored into the other. Silver, Tracey and Sparky all ducked behind whatever cover they could find, though the gesture was futile. I could see Tracey shivering as she ducked behind the couch she’d been sitting on, and Frost was spreading across the room from where Winter stood, the Blizzard in her eyes leaking into the physical world and freezing the room around us as we faced off. Around me, eldritch symbols of black and silver light formed, swirling around me and fading in and out of existence.

Snowflakes formed, swirling around Winter in a sudden storm of ice, raw magic crackling between them as Winter stepped towards me. I rose to my feet, the Symbols around me stayed in view, no longer fading from view. They formed long chains, swirling around me in dozens of orbiting rings as I leapt from the top of the bookshelf, blades flying into my hands as I moved, the runes on them bursting with silver light. Winter leapt towards me as her wand slid into one hand and her knife appeared in the other.

Winter’s wand danced, sending a burst of Yellow light towards me. As I twisted midair to avoid it, the swirling images around me captured it, pulsating slightly before multiplying, a storm of strange, incomprehensible symbols swirling around me before they divided into additional rings, forming an orb of silvery light around me as they flew around me. Winter’s Blizzard met my swirling symbols and in a small area around me, carved a small hole in her magical Blizzard. My knives slashed through the air at Daphne in a storm. As the blades left my small space of swirling Mystical images, they slowed dramatically in her Blizzard, allowing Winter time to dodge or block my assault. Whenever she attacked, I dodged her attacks, never allowing her blade to even come close to me. The few spells that Winter managed to cast under my assault were either absorbed into my mystical shield or dodged. If anyone had been able to see through the blizzard and my magical shield, they would have seen a glowing patch on the back of my neck.

We had been at it for perhaps three seconds when a sudden pulse of power surged through the room and blew away both of our storms and knocked us to the ground.

“WILL YOU BOTH STOP ALREADY!” Sparky roared, a faint crackling noise echoed from around him in the aftermath of the shockwave. The two of us looked at each other, threw our heads back and groaned as we gathered our things off the floor.

“ _Fiiine._ We’ll stop.” We chorused. He sat back down on the couch farther away from us. Silver slowly emerged from her hiding place behind it, dragging Tracey with her, and sat down as well, looking a little shaken.

“I… forgot how much you two fought.” Silver managed. Her face was ashen, and she was breathing shakily. Tracey was just staring into space, not acknowledging anything. Her face was even paler than Silver’s, if that were possible, and her eyes were glassy.

“Why did you guys do that?” Sparky asked, glaring at both of us as we sat down on the couch facing him. “You’re going to kill one of the only people who you care about because… what? You insulted each other?” he asked angrily. Silver placed and hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

“Those two were labeled a freak accident by the Muggle media once when they leveled an entire city block just because it was where they happened to be fighting. Yet they’re still here, so I doubt they’ll die because they started fighting here. Although, we might have gotten some Frostbite or something like that. They usually burned out pretty fast, but not before they wreaked havoc on the area.” Silver told him tiredly. Tracey was mumbling something quietly under her breath as the last of the frost on the walls melted. Unlike the rest of our magical battle, the frost had been left untouched by Sparky’s magical shockwave.

“Huh, what was that Seer?” I asked her, snapping my fingers at her.

“Seer?”

“Yeah. She sees magic. The rest of us have our own names, but she didn’t have her own. So I gave her one.”

“Eh, I guess it works.” Winter conceded.

“Seer. I like it.” Silver said tentatively, her previous shakiness all but forgotten.

“You… you made her lose her temper.” Seer whispered hoarsely, looking at me. I leaned back and gave Winter a sidelong look.

“Yeah, is that abnormal? She lost her temper with me something on the order of ten times a day back when we ran the streets. I was getting worried that some numbskull had done some magical mumbo-jumbo and made it so she couldn’t get mad anymore.” I replied. Winter gave me an annoyed look.

“A daughter of a noble house is _never_ supposed to display her emotions. And neither is a son of one, Potter.” She said imperiously, giving Sparky a pointed look as she said the last part.

“Glad I’m not friends with one of those then. Children of magical nobility sound like a pain to me.”

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

“Hey, neither Sparky nor Winter are nobles of any kind, and Seer’s not _technically_ a child of magical nobles right now. So I’m not friends with any nobles, and I’m not planning on changing that. Also, White Peacock is what you see in the dictionary under annoying.” I reasoned.

“Steelthorn! That was uncalled for.” Silver exclaimed harshly. Sparky winced, though I hadn’t the foggiest idea why.

“That’s not how that works Steelthorn…”

“This is me not caring Seer.” I told her, pointing at my face. Winter facepalmed.

“You’re not going to win this one Tracey. Silver and I tried to prove to him that borders were more important than he insisted they were. We still haven’t won that one. Changing his mind is nearly impossible.”

“Borders only matter to people who are going to respect them. AKA: not me. Ergo, borders aren’t important.” I stated, reiterating my point. Seer giggled.

“He’s really a lost cause isn’t he?” She asked.

“No, I’m just insane. Even the voices in my head agree. Although, that might just be because I killed the one that said I was still sane.” I told her happily.

“Is he quite serious right now? I can’t tell.”

“Yes Harry, this is Steelthorn being serious. Well, as serious as he’s capable of being.” Silver told him, resting her head in one hand.

“Which is to say, not very.” Winter added.

“Hey Daphne, what’s your house gift?” Sparky asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Members of house Greengrass can teleport anywhere we’ve already been without showing up on most magical sensors.” Winter said.

“So your icy death glare isn’t your house gift then?” I asked.

“No, that’s something of a fluke. I can’t find reference to anything like it anywhere. And believe me, I’ve looked.” She agreed. I grinned.

“Does that mean I could do it?”

“No. It’s not something you can learn how to do.” Seer interjected. I frowned.

“You know something about this and you didn’t tell the person who does it fairly often, who was also perhaps your only friend in the whole world prior to our friendship. You realize you’re not making the case for the average Magical’s intellect any better right?” I asked her.

“Err.. well it’s… complicated. And besides, I’d never seen her do it before today.”

“Whatever magic you guys use to keep Winter from going berserk on you must be working pretty well then. Ow.” I slapped at Winter’s hand, knocking the knife she was holding away from where she’d stabbed my leg.

“Uh… sure…” Seer said slowly, clearly puzzled. “But the ‘icy death glare’ as you put it is actually a fairly well documented phenomenon in the Ancient Druidic texts, although they called it the Winter queen’s wrath. It’s a rare power, about one in every hundred thousand magicals has it. Fewer still have the ability to use it. That makes me wonder about your magic though Steelthorn. When we were breaking into the vault corridor you had almost no magic, in fact, I would have thought you a squib if I’d seen you on the street, but you just used enough magic to block a direct assault of one of the most powerful natural magics known. How did you manage that?” She asked. That got everyone’s eyes on me. I sighed and lay down on the couch.

“Storms. Wake me when we get back to the Ice Queen’s deadly storm thinger.” I told her and closed my eyes.

“You’re not getting off that easily.” Silver said, her tone taking on the excitement and curiosity of a scientist presented with the greatest mystery of their time. I yawned.

“Weird. Sure seems like I’m not telling, so I guess I can get away with it that easy.” I said, curling up on my section of the couch. I caught Winter’s hand as she swung at me. “You’re too predictable Winter. Next time at least consider being patient before you try and hit me. Or maybe don’t strike straight down at me like _every other time you’ve done it_. Oh, and since nobody else is going to ask, what’s natural magic?”

“Natural magic?” Sparky asked, drawing us back to the original conversation.

“Well, Tracey did mention it when she was talking about Winter’s ice thing, so he’s got a point. What is it?” Silver asked, looking expectantly at the two purebloods.

“Natural magic is a spell or ritual that uses magic from the area around you, rather than your own magic. It’s almost always ritual magic, on account of the lands’ magic being harder to gather, but there are some very powerful spells that use it, since Natural magic is always stronger than Innate magic, which is what we have.” Seer explained.

“So innate magic is spells we cast with our power, natural magic is spells we cast by borrowing the magic from the planet itself.” Silver summed up. Seer nodded.

“Why can’t we use more Nature magic spells? It seems like they would be useful.” Sparky asked slowly.

“Two reasons. First, the Earth doesn’t give up it’s magic without a fight, so casting naturally takes much longer than casting innately. Second, Nature magic is always powerful, strong enough that weak wizards can kill themselves just by casting the spell, whether they got it right or wrong, they would still die.”

“And you can’t just cast normal spells naturally I assume.”

“No. outside of rituals, I can count on one hand the number of spells you can cast without having been born with the ability, and even of the ones you’re born with, you have to be able to handle Nature magic without dying.”

“So… Anything else of great importance? It’s getting late and I’ve got a castle to climb people.” I asked.

“Well, I think we’ve mostly finished up our lessons. We’ll need to revisit our lesson plans though.”

“And the Vault corridor. We need to revisit that to.”

“That we do. Something is up with that, and we need to figure it out. It could prove useful. Oh, You said you were going to try asking the Gamekeeper, How did that go Hermione?”

“Poorly. Hagrid clammed up as soon as we brought it up. It’s pretty clear he’s in on it though, he identified the Cerberus as being named Fluffy before he caught himself, but that was it.”

“That thing’s called _FLUFFY?_ ” Seer managed. Sparky grimaced, but he nodded.

“I can’t even add that to my list of ‘dumb things Magicals have done’ since it’d send the balance so far off the scale that nothing would ever redeem it.” I griped. Winter didn’t even try to stab me for that one. We all sat for a few moments, a cloud of gloom settling over us like a thick fog.

_They’re insane! We’re insane! Everything’s insane! We’re all gonna die and almost nobody’s even going to realize that they’re dead because we’ll all have gotten so stupid that even dying can’t reach our brains!_

_That’s not how dying works Thorn._ Unfortunately, Thorn was already screaming at the top of his nonexistent lungs, and therefore unable to hear Steel.

“Excuse me.” I said eventually, unable to bear the screaming in my head any longer, and left. The moment I had closed the door I grabbed at my hair and pulled, voicing the scream that Thorn had been making for the past few minutes. Once I was out of breath I stopped, listening to the echoes that bounced around the halls, repeating the sound back and gradually quieting. I slid down the banister, listening to nothing and brutally beating both voices in my head the moment they started to speak. Just this once, I wanted some quiet, and I was going to get it if I had to tear down Hogwarts stone by stone for it.

|~~~~~|

 

I was quite fortunate that no such drastic measures were needed, it would probably have taken most of my life to achieve that, and I had other things I needed to do. Things like climb to the tallest tower in Hogwarts and perch atop its peak to view the surroundings. It was peaceful up here, a gentle wind blew through my hair, trailing it out behind me like a piece of a clear night sky. From this height, I could see sprawling mountains laid out below me, majestic heights and lush forests and grasses that covered them like green blankets. Here and there something moved, animals perhaps, or maybe people, I couldn’t tell. Directly below me, where I was taking great pains not to look to closely, most of the Magical children were out and about, mostly playing or resting, enjoying the day off from school. I sighed at that thought.

“Who’d have thought School would be so hard? They might not be terribly smart in everything that matters, and the general population’s common sense and sanity might be well below zero, but Magical school is really hard.”

_We can’t expect to be able to master something so foreign right away. That would be impossible, even for the smartest people in the world._

_Heh, can you imagine some Famous scientist trying to figure all this stuff out? They’d probably invent a way to turn the walls into explosives just to escape._

_Thorn, I know you think you’re witty, but kindly shut up._

“Steel, I know you think yourself Thorn’s superior, but from where I’m standing, you’re both waaaay overdue on your rent.”

_I can hardly argue with that. My apologies._

_I like it up here. With the wind blowing through our hair, and the sun shining down on us, I like it. We’re completely out in the open, yet we don’t have to worry. We can see any threat long before it reaches us, and we’ve got a great view. Even if it’s just for a few seconds, let’s just let all our worries go. We can pick them up again once we’re on the ground. For once we don't even have to worry about our mark being seen, so under no circumstances to I wish to be reminded of our many problems._

“That is an extremely sensible idea Thorn. I say that we’ll do that, and if Steel tries to break that rule, we kill him.” I said, bringing one hand up to touch the back of my neck. Beneath my fingers I could feel the tingling feeling I always got from touching the mark. I had managed, with some effort, to look at it once. it was a black snowflake with a silver crescent shape along the bottom. Attached to the crescent was a silver pi symbol. I didn't know what it meant, but as long as I could remember I had always had a compulsion to keep it hidden.

 _I am opposed to_   _d_ _ying._ Steel's words brought my thoughts back to our conversation.

_Then don’t bring up anything important until we get onto the ground again._

“It’s really quite simple, isn’t it Steel?” I said, closing my eyes and enjoying the sunshine.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Steelthorn recalls the most interesting things that have happened so far (not much) and is reminded of the current day.

The days passed, becoming weeks. Winter’s lessons for Sparky continued and the rest of us attended when we could, though with varying levels of actual interest. Sparky was slowly growing used to the idea of being magical nobility, though he still seemed to have his reservations about it. Enough storms appeared that my magic levels didn’t get to low, I raided enough trunks that students began placing half-decent locking spells on their things, and overall, school life was boring.

The first Quidditch game came and went, Sparky caused a stir by being the youngest seeker (whatever that was) in forever, as well as being a first-year on the team. I didn’t see the point, but I attended the game anyway. It was every bit as boring as I’d anticipated. 

There  _ had _ been that bit where Sparky had lost control of his broom because some of the teachers had been jinxing and counterjinxing it, but that was only interesting because it gave me an opportunity to empty the pockets of everyone in the section of bleachers near us. Removing that from the game, I found the entire thing to be so boring I’d have found it more interesting to watch it in my sleep. After that I resolved not to bother watching the games. That gave me at least an hour with free reign in the castle while everyone else was watching the game. It was a perfect opportunity to get up to the kinds of mischief the others would call ‘psychotically illegal’’ though I really didn’t think I was  _ that _ insane yet. I still had most of my life to get to that point!

The only thing that had happened worth mentioning was about three days ago, when we had infiltrated ‘The Vault’ which was what we had named the Corridor in question. While I studied my classmates in the common room, I cast my mind back to the events of that day.

 

|~~~~~|

 

“So, just to be clear, we’ve got what looks like two kinds of plants down there?” Winter called down to where I was hanging from my magical rope, my wand pulsating with an irregular light. I contorted myself somewhat in order to face upwards from my position dangling from the trapdoor.

“Yep. I don’t suppose any of you feel like you could do a positive ID on either of them? They’re both tentacle-y plants that are trying to grab me, but don’t have the reach. One seems to have shells on its tentacles, and the other is a weird grey-brown color, kinda like those mushrooms Zoe got a year ago…” I mused, my thoughts wandering off as the various voices in my head argued about the mushrooms.

_ Those things tasted awesome! _

_ If by awesome you mean horrifically, unspeakably nasty with a side of poison, then yes, you’re totally right. _

_ They were not nasty and they were not in any way responsible for the cold that some of us came down with later on Thorn! _

_ I’m sorry if the truth offends your  _ delicate _ sensibilities, Lordling, but that refuse tasted worse than anything else we’ve ever had to eat, even those month-old brussels from that one pub’s rubbish heap. _

_ We agreed never to mention those again, for fear of… That. _ Steel’s final word was on account of my having just emptied my stomach onto the two writhing plants, an action that was helped along by my being upside down at the time.

“Steelthorn are you even listening?”

“Huh? No, not at all, I was busy arguing about month old brussel sprouts tasting better or worse than mushrooms. For the record, the purple plant is in favor of the Brussels tasting better while the other one is against and favoring the mushrooms having tasted better… or was it that Thorn was in favor of the shell-plant tasting better than the brussels while the mushrooms tasted better than the brownish plant?” I frowned, trying to remember which was which.

“What?” The sheer amount of shock made me worry that perhaps Sparky was going to fall on top of me. That would have been unpleasant.

“Don’t ask Harry. Don’t. Ask.” Silver ordered him sternly.

“Now that you’re paying attention maybe you can inform us as to the color of the shelled plant?” Winter called.

“It’s red and purple. On second thought, are we sure it’s a plant? ‘Cause it sure don’t look like one to me, despite the strange colors which seem to be demanded for all things wizard-y, which is only another argument in favor of wizarding, witching, or any other term you may prefer being the same as stupid.” One of the voices in my head noted that my speech was degrading, an indicator of mental overload for me.

“Steelthorn I swear I’m going to torture you to death in your sleep. I’ll start by pinning your wrists to the floor with pitons, then I’ll castrate you and use the separate parts to stab a hole from your feet to your heart.”

“Mm-hm, Love you too Winter.” I called back lazily, twisting slightly to avoid a section of plant that appeared to have been torn off and thrown at me. Magical plant-things were weird.

“What?!?”

“Don’t ask Tracey. Just don’t. Hey, why is it that I have to keep telling everyone not to ask about Steelthorn’s brand of crazy? Shouldn’t you have gotten used to it by now?” Silver complained.

“Nobody ever gets used to him Hermione, we’re just… more resilient.” Winter said with a sigh. I could almost hear the pained expression on her face, as well as that she was rubbing at the bridge of her nose… wait no, that was actually her leaning over the trapdoor, so I actually could see it. Wasn’t Sparky leaning over the trapdoor a moment ago?

“Steelthorn, I swear if you don’t stop getting us off on tangents I’m going to find a way to get you framed for murdering Harry and Dumbledore and still have them show up for your execution.”

“I’m almost tempted to do so just to watch you try Silver. Any idea on the maybe plants though?” I asked.

“Burn them?” Sparky offered helpfully

“That  _ won’t  _ reveal our passage?” I corrected.

“Well that takes chopping them up off the list as well…”

“I’m not sure about that, since they seem to be attacking me by lobbing torn off bits of themselves at me.” I replied, setting myself swinging so I could avoid the flying plant matter a bit more easily.

“Why didn’t you say so? That makes the grey-brown one Devil’s Snare, since that’s the only carnivorous plant that’s aggressive enough to try something like that, and the purple one is obviously Venomous Tentacula. Honestly, don’t you pay any attention in Herbology Steelthorn?” Silver asked in exasperation.

“I was rather busy plotting the ways I could acquire and utilize various of the poisonous plants more than anything else!” I called, a bit louder than I intended. Above me I heard all three girls huffing.

“We’re going to talk about that later Steelthorn. For now, if  you sent a strong enough light spell at it, the Devil’s Snare will back off. Once that’s out of the way We’ll see how bad the Tentacula is.”

“How strong are we talking here?”

“ _ Lumos Solem! _ ” A brilliant beam of yellow-white light streamed past, illuminating the ground below me, as well as a large tangle of plants, much of which swiftly retreated. The Tentacula was still there, and filled a large enough space that I doubted we could get through it easily.

“Not good enough. Looks like there’s more of them than there were planter boxes to start with. The floor is fairly crawling with Tentacula, and there’s even a few holes where some of the Devil’s snare vanished down.” I reported. The fainter light of my wand allowed me to see that the devils snare had only grown thicker in the rest of the room, granting little hope of passage without a better plan.

“If there’s that much plant matter down there then we don’t need to worry about cutting it, tendrils are going to die and fall off all the time.” Silver determined. I grumbled under my breath, tossing a pull-chain knife at the wall and activating it to swing me to the wall above the doorway.

“So what’s the plan?”

“The plan? The plan is we find a way through the wall where the plants aren’t!” I called back, digging a knife into the stone above the doorway and cutting.

“That room is small enough that by now it’s more of a mat of plants than an actual room. Only the walls will be safe, and even those won’t be if you’re too low. So we’ll have to find another way through.”

“Like that’s ever been an issue.” I retorted as I started cutting away chunks of stone and dirt with runicly enhanced knives.

“Well would ya look at that! The Thief’s brilliant plan is… circumvent the security.” Silver commented sarcastically. Winter snorted at her.

“To be fair, that was always the plan.” She pointed out.

“Yeah, we just didn’t plan on doing it like this. Ugh. ETC Steelthorn?” Silver asked.

“I’m thinking… five minutes? You did bring a rope right?”

“Tracey’s got it.”

“I’m going to climb back up there and take one end of the rope. Once I’ve anchored it, I want one of you to follow it down to help me excavate the tunnel I’m digging. That’ll let me focus on digging while you work on keeping the thing clear. Anything I should watch out for while I’m digging?”

“Possibly. Get Tracey down there so she can take a look. Even plants have some magic.” Winter suggested.

“Good point. I’ll be right up.” I called, anchoring the magical rope to a protrusion I’d carved into my new cave specifically for the purpose. After I was certain it was secure I climbed back up and took the rope, tying it to a similar protrusion. “Alright, come on down!”

A few moments later, Seer was working her way down the rope, clinging tightly to it as she inched her way along. The voices in my head started up a series of complaints against how slowly she was moving, but when I pointed out that she had probably never climbed a rope and was the most useful person to have while digging the tunnel, they quieted down. Not that they stopped talking on the subject, they merely reduced themselves to constant mutters rather than impassioned rants. I still mentally slit their throats. They’d be back in a few minutes, but for the time being I preferred the quiet gurgling to their whining.

After Seer landed next to me, we discovered that the easiest way to continue would actually be to tunnel past all the defenses and then drain the wards at the final room. It irked me that it took us so long to discover this. Unfortunately, the time required to complete it was unknown. With this newfound knowledge, we’d begun digging, covering the entrance to the tunnel with a keyed Hiding sequence. Hopefully nobody would spot it before we’d completed the tunnel. With the way the plants were going, it seemed that leaving no trace was becoming a nigh-impossibility. Some of the other defences had been ‘modified’ as well according to Seer. The chess set was now an army of stone soldiers, the keys would attack anyone in the room, though she wasn’t sure how, and though we couldn’t see anything else, it was unlikely the other defences were the same as they had been before. She also noticed a third magical signature in the room with the tangle of plants, though it was hidden just under the surface of the room, it was clearly another plant of an unknown type.

 

|~~~~~|

  
  


I pulled myself out of my memories as, almost as one, every Slytherin in the room moved towards the door.

_ Odd, even during dinner they’re not that synchronized. It usually takes a few minutes to gather everyone. What’s going on? _

I sidled over to Winter, almost filleting a couple as they passed me. I’d been getting wound tighter and tighter as the days passed, and at this point I was jumpy enough to murder everyone in the school if somebody pushed me.

“Winter, what’s going on? Why is everyone here already?” I asked quietly.

“It’s all Hallows Eve you dolt. The feast is amazing and nobody wants to be late today.”

_ You say that like our contingent is ever late for dinner. _ It was true. Lunch and Breakfast everyone sort of shuffled in when they were ready. But for dinner everyone in the dorm made certain to be gathered in the common room and we were out the door at such a time as we would always make it to the Great Hall with a few minutes to spare.

_ All Hallows Eve… OH! That’s Halloween. _

_ That the one where they make with the costumes and free candy? _

_ Yes Thorn. That’s the one. _

_ Why would we have a feast for it? _

_ Let’s go, maybe Dumbledore will explain it. _

_ Riiiiight. Like that pompous windbag ever explained anything well enough to be useful. _

_ He does seem like that type doesn’t he? _

_ Heh, Knowledge is power. Indeed! Nah, a Knife in the other guy’s throat is power. Money in your pocket is power. Knowledge? Only useful if you’ve got food, water and you’re not about to die. _

“Everyone’s here, so let’s move out. We’ll be a little early, but the Headmaster likes to give a speech before the Feast, and as much as we may wish otherwise, we shouldn’t miss it. It would be unseemly.” The seventh year male prefect called. Higgins, I think was is name. He hadn’t had anything worth noting in his possessions, and he was pretty much normal as far as everything else went, though he had just enough of an aristocratic air that he would stand out in a normal crowd.

In other words, he was totally worthless.

With that thought, we marched off to the Halloween feast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! it only took me two months to get through my writers block enough to have another chapter. yes, most of it could be put in anywhere, but I really ran into a brick wall on this story. Updates are going to be sporadic at best for the forseeable future.  
> My apologies to anyone who might be hoping for more quickly.


	15. Halloween night.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah... the infamous night of the troll. Pity that the rumors are more interesting than the actual thing, but that's always the way, isn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... It's been a while hasn't it? I got hit by a major bout of writer's block for a while, on top of some other projects kinda left this story dead in the water, but here's the next chapter. it's... significantly different from cannon. There's a good reason for it, I promise, but I might not explain that for a few chapters, unless I decide to A/N it in somewhere.

I had just finished gnawing off a leg of… on second thought it may have been a loaf of bread, I’d already forgotten, but in any case, I had just finished and was about to grab something else to eat when Stutterus Quirrel burst into the Great Hall, screaming at the top of his lungs. I very nearly stabbed him then and there to spare the collective assembly’s ears, but then he threw me off by actually using words.

“TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!” He shrieked, gasping for breath. Then, in a much quieter tone he said “Thought you might want to know.” Before falling flat on his face with a whimper.

It falls to me to report that in the ensuing chaos Stutterus was trampled by half the student body and mysteriously found his way outside where he was then stabbed several more times. Not that I had anything to do with that, of course. And besides, it wasn’t like any of those wounds were lethal, just painful. Strangely, there were no witnesses to any of these events, and even the students who were identified by Stutterus as having stepped on him didn’t remember the incident.

Eventually Old Silverbeard was able to gain control of the student body through several cannon blast spells and sent everyone to their dorms, totally ignoring that the Slytherin dorms were in the dungeons, which meant going closer to the troll.

While the other Slytherins were protesting (Although I wasn't paying them much attention, being otherwise occupied) and the three houses that weren’t Slytherin were lining up in panicked fashion to go to their dorms, one of the suits of armor poked me with a finger and pointed down a hallway most insistently. I sighed and left off ‘poking’ the extra face Stutterus had and moved down the hallway, letting his turban pile on top of his head once I’d wiped my knife clean of the strange red liquid which had gathered on it. Steel pushed Thorn violently out of the control seat in my head, trying to claim them for himself, but I sent them both packing with a few well placed mental stabs and followed Hogwarts' directions down the twisting hallways, an uneasy feeling in my gut as I reached a small bathroom which had been totally destroyed. With no more directions from Hogwarts I followed the trail of destruction, which soon became the trail of stench as well, to what I could only assume would be a troll.

I was not impressed.

“Correct me if I’m wrong hogwarts, but I’m fairly sure there are a bunch of teachers here that would be far more capable of killing trolls for you.” I noted as I kept walking. Displeased I may be, but I did have a promise to keep.

Next to me a light flickered, indicating a negative answer. I was slightly confused, but wasn’t sure how to continue the line of questioning while also only being answered with yes and no.

_ It occurs to me we should save this until after the fight. _

_ The world is ending: I actually agree with Thorn. _

“So both of you cower in fear of the impending apocalypse and leave me to fight the thing then.” I ordered the pair as I walked. To my dismay, if not surprise, they didn’t shut up.

_ Well that’s not very nice. _

_ Huh, as if we could ever do something like that. We’re trapped in your head you ninny. _

_ Perhaps insulting our host isn’t the wisest course of action? You do remember our… late compatriot don’t you? _

_ That guy was a wuss. He was always trying to find the ‘nice’ way out of conflicts. Stupid conscience stand-in. I’d be a lot harder to kill. _

_ You routinely lost to her in fights. _

_ THAT WAS A GIRL? _

Before either one could continue their conversation I rounded a corner and saw the troll a bit further down the passage. After a few moments, I said the only thing I could think of.

“That’s it?”

_ It occurs to me that maybe there’s a bit more fuss than need be over this creature. _ Steel observed. Thorn merely yawned loudly.

_ Just stab it already! This is boring and I want to get back to picking pockets and looting dorms! _

The eight-foot tall grey-skinned troll marched towards me, it’s large club grinding on the ground behind it as it walked. While it was fairly well muscled, it seemed only slightly larger than the suits of armor which lined most of the walls of Hogwarts. Overall, not the terrifying creature everyone had made it out to be.

My observations complete, I skipped forward, ran along the wall and cut its throat open, the magically sharpened blade cutting nearly through the neck as I passed. One repeat performance and the thing was barely even on its feet, it swayed heavily, the greenish blood that flowed from its neck. With the Troll now dead, I managed to lift the club up and dragged it across its neck, as which point I jumped up and down on it until the head was completely severed from the torso. My ‘cover-up’ of my involvement complete, I started off.

“And after all that build up to! Man, I was all worked up about this being something dangerous and then… That. It didn’t even make it a full step before it finished bleeding out!” I grumped as I left the scene, making sure not to attract the attention of any portraits, ghosts or anything else that might be nearby.“Hogwarts, we need to figure out a way for you to communicate the level of threat being posed here. I was getting worried over nothing!” I informed the castle as I returned to the Slytherin dorms, unnoticed by the staff who were, strangely, nowhere to be seen.

Hogwarts assured me that nobody had seen me, and after a moment a strange creature about a metre tall appeared in front of me. As I jumped out of the way, the creature began speaking.

“You is not needing to worry, Young master. Hoggy-warts be sending me to take you to Snake rooms.” It announced. I cocked my head at it in confusion as the lights flared brighter, an indication of agreement from Hogwarts.

“What… are you exactly?” I wondered, taking in the large, floppy ears and strange toga-like uniform.

“I is Nissy. Nissy is being a house elf. Now Nissy be taking you to Snake rooms.” The Elf told me before snapping its fingers. I blinked looking around me.

_ Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but… weren't we in one of the second floor corridors a moment ago? _

_ That was my understanding as well, Thorn. _

_ So… how is it that we’re in our dorm now? Wasn’t the wizarding teleportation blocked in Hogwarts? _

_ It is. So either we’re hallucinating, apparition isn’t blocked, or House elves can ignore apparition barriers. _

I pinched myself hard, just in case. It hurt.

“So. Either the apparition barriers are down, or elves don’t apparate. Got it.” I mused as I stood up and walked out of the room. In the common room, everyone was gathered together, discussing the matter of the troll. In a corner, Winter and Seer were talking animatedly with several of the older years who I didn’t recognize. I made my way over to another group of older years who were discussing how best to protect the dorms if the troll tried to break in. Most of them doubted a troll could break through the door, but they were smart enough to have contingency plans just in case.

Eventually I spotted a scrap of parchment folded into a triangle. The plans for defending the dorm were starting to peter out, so I palmed it and sat in the corner, next to one of the many small braziers which were situated around the room. 

 

**Where were you? Neither of us saw you in the group when we came down.**

**Seer said she couldn’t find you either. What happened?**

 

I smiled at the note and let it fall into the flames. I was half convinced that they were placed in the room specifically for this reason, given the number of times I saw other people ‘stealthily’ dropping notes into them.

I wrote a response and left it where Winter or Seer would be sure to find it and retired to my room to sleep. As boring as the day had been, not sleeping at all the night prior had a way of making me tired.

I lay on the floor, staring up at the bottom of my bed, contemplating. In hindsight, maybe attacking a magical monster in a sleep deprived state wasn’t the best idea. But it had worked out, even if I could now see hundreds of places it would have failed against a half-competent opponent, so I was perfectly willing to let it be as long as nobody asked me about it. My last thought before I fell asleep was that maybe I should create a cover story for where I had been during that mess.


End file.
